SPQR
SPQR by Mary Beardby Mary Beard
Shares rank 38 of 51 history books by recommenders
Readers recommend it as an informative, enjoyable survey of ancient Rome. Critics say it repeatedly calls the early list of consuls impossible.
Readers recommend it as an informative, enjoyable survey of ancient Rome. Critics say it repeatedly calls the early list of consuls impossible.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Informative, entertaining history of Rome
“Mary Beard's SPQR is an amazing book about Rome and I recommend it to any fellow history nerds.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hollywood's vision of ancient Rome is all wrong, according to Mary Beard” “her scholarship is both informative and IMO entertaining”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “New Books Aren't Worth Reading” Enjoyable read for history fans
“Mary Beard's SPQR is an amazing book about Rome and I recommend it to any fellow history nerds.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hollywood's vision of ancient Rome is all wrong, according to Mary Beard” “I read SPQR last year and really enjoyed it”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hollywood's vision of ancient Rome is all wrong, according to Mary Beard”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Repeatedly calls early consul list wrong
“I was pretty unimpressed with _SQPR_. It's a nice survey, but she keeps saying things like "this list of consuls since the kings can't possibly be right".”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hollywood's vision of ancient Rome is all wrong, according to Mary Beard” “I was frustrated by Mary Beard's "SQPR" when she kept saying things like "of course, this list of consuls cannot possibly be right"”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “New Books Aren't Worth Reading”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| SPQRby Mary BeardThis page | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I was frustrated by Mary Beard's "SQPR" when she kept saying things like "of course, this list of consuls cannot possibly be right"”
“her scholarship is both informative and IMO entertaining”
“I read SPQR last year and really enjoyed it”
“I was pretty unimpressed with _SQPR_. It's a nice survey, but she keeps saying things like "this list of consuls since the kings can't possibly be right".”
“Mary Beard's SPQR is an amazing book about Rome and I recommend it to any fellow history nerds.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.