First published 2011
Robert Hughes traces Rome's evolution across more than two millennia, beginning with his own arrival as a young Australian in 1959. He examines the city's mythological origins and follows its rise as the center of Western power and ambition. Hughes profiles major figures from Julius Caesar and Marcus Aurelius to Virgil and Cicero, showing how political genius and corruption shaped the empire. He chronicles Christianity's brutal consolidation of power, the Church's eventual dominance over imperial authority, and the Papal States' control until 1870. The Renaissance receives detailed treatment as Hughes surveys the architectural and artistic flowering from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. He tracks the convergence of European artists and tourists in subsequent centuries, through Italian independence struggles and into the twentieth century's fascist period under Mussolini. Hughes concludes with postwar Rome's transformation into the glamorous setting of "La Dolce Vita," arguing that mass tourism has since destroyed the vibrant city he once knew. His personal antipathy toward religion colors his account of Church history, while his expertise in art criticism illuminates Rome's cultural achievements.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, art-history, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-narrative
Setting: Italy, Rome, Western
Period: 1st-century, 2nd-century, 14th-century, 16th-century, 20th-century
512 pages · Hardcover · Knopf