Rhakotis Book of the Year 2025
George V, as Jawaharlal Nehru noted in the 1930s, was the last ruler named after Julius Caesar, the one time conqueror of Britannia.
As Kaiser-i-Hind, Emperor of India, George was the last in a line of brutal rulers, from a range of countries and empires, who took the name of the Roman statesman.
This is just one of the intriguing facts from Rhiannon Garth Jones’ new book on the Roman Empire.
Although it was not inspired by the ‘How often do you think of the Roman Empire?’ meme, this question was clearly in the background as she worked on her study.
Undoubtedly, if you asked the question to the group of shady world conquerors listed here, they would answer ‘All the time’.
She begins with a simple premise.
Our image of Rome is not correct.
It’s based on Hollywood, on art history, on centuries of power symbolism.
‘This idea of Rome, this interpretation of Rome’, she writes ‘is more powerful than what we know to be the reality’.
This book is essentially a whistle-stop tour of the last two millennia, highlighting some of the Empires that used Rome as a model, including the Holy Roman Empire, Britain, the US and the Ottomans.
At one point, she admits ‘Popular readers of Roman history will know there is a lot hidden by that seemingly straightforward set of highlights’.
But when a book is written with this level of vision and panache, highlights can be forgiven.
In fact, this is its strength. A lot is revealed and it is full of memorable vignettes.
Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Emperor, had as one of his many titles, Kayser-i Rum (Emperor of the Romans).
At the height of his power, he ordered an active military triumph against the Hapsburgs, a major rival power.
He sent Ibrahim Pasha to Venice to organise the production of equipment, including a four crowned Roman inspired helmet.
(By comparison, the pope wore three crowns.)
As he proceeded through Hungary, he had classically inspired triumphal arches put up, which his army marched through.
The Hapsburg envoys beholding the spectacle, looked on like ‘speechless corpses’, understanding implicitly here was a real Roman Emperor.
Ultimately Suleiman got his way without military conflict.
When he returned to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), he had the Roman inspired crown melted down and refashioned to impress the Shah of Persia with similar largesse.
By focusing on how leaders have projected their image or self-identity, the book turns into a powerful mediation on identity, power and history.
Although it spans centuries, it’s very tightly structured, correctly taking the Emperor Constantine as the role model of later Emperors.
I would, perhaps, have liked a little more on the other cultures that Rome conquered and engaged with.
The book ends with the obelisk sent to Rome by Augustus (now standing in the Piazza del Popolo).
Erected as an embodiment of his power, it also symbolises something uncanny at the heart of Empirem.
‘A monument to one of Egypt’s dangerously foreign gods’, Rhiannon writes.
But these foreign gods, figures like Isis or Jesus, first beguiled and then took over Rome.
It complicates the use of Rome as a symbol of power.
This is an ambitious and accessible piece of popular history.
The language is engaging and lucid and it’s begging to be printed in a glossy format with loads of photos.
Read it now and be transported on the Road from Rome.
Rhakotis 
