What Does It Mean to be Roman?

By choosing to end her history of Ancient Rome in 212 CE when Caracella granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire, Mary Beard not only answers the question of what it means to be Roman but also positions that question as one of this book’s central themes. This is an example of how an author’s choice of concluding topic is highly meaningful and has a significant impact on the reader’s overall impression of the book, in part because conclusions have a direct impact on the reader takeaway. At the same time, Beard has in fact been answering the question of what it means to be Roman throughout the entire manuscript.

She first does so in the way she frames the Romulus myth and its contributions to Roman culture and the ways in which the Romans viewed themselves...