How History Shapes the Present

Thoughts from ancient Rome

The mechanics of finishing a book are a lot less interesting than it seems like they ought to be. The upshot of that grinding away is that since I finally wrapped the book I have been starving for new ideas. Not so much new facts— I get those every day— but new theories and new fields.

One of the first things I picked up was Mary Beard’s S. P. Q. R.: A H…