Pax – War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

By Tom Holland

Tom Holland, historian and author, pens his latest book on Rome. I’ve been waiting for this one, and was keen to see how well he captured the year of four emperors to the Pax Romana, period of peace and stability despite several wars. The imperialism, discipline and integration – albeit usually forced - of Rome had managed to reach relative stability and prosperity, so I was interested to see how Holland would explore the apogee of this ancient superpower.

Immediately, Holland’s writing is striking. It oftentimes reads more like a fiction, which is a compliment, so readable and fluent is the prose. He describes the views of the common man, to the arrogance and ego of Emperors – be they more or less deserving of praise – to the reception of local peoples, religions into this melting pot of imperialism skilfully. It does not dart to these various angles, but instead flows effortlessly from Nero, back to Claudius, to bloody bouts in the Colosseum. We go to AD 69 or the year of four emperors, usually considered to be a low point where ownership of the Empire was disputed by various loyal armies - be they armies mainly loyal to coin or to their general they’d fought for on campaign. They were arrayed against each other and fluidly changing the power base within the space of a single year.

This period of instability was perhaps necessary for Rome to get it out of her system, to have no leader rise up above the morass of suitors until the need was clear for a ‘good’ emperor in the vein of Marcus Aurelius almost a hundred years later.

‘But then the Flavian onslaught had begun. And Vitellius, in a panic, had sent a frantic message to the Batavian cohorts, ordering them back to Italy. They had set out, but they were destined never to arrive. Messengers from the Rhine brought news to the capital that - devastating though it was - would not perhaps, have come as a total surprise to fashionistas and their hairdressers. Every woman who used Batavian foam knew the score. There was always the risk – an exceedingly slight one but a real one nevertheless, that the soap rather than dying the hair a fetching shade of blonde, might singe it, and destroy it and leave the user bald. Now, to the consternation of Vitellius and his command, it seems the military authorities on the Rhine, were facing an analogous disaster. The Batavians, it was reported, had risen in revolt.’ (Track 13 - Pax Romana audiobook)

Holland’s writing style isn’t always to my taste in his prior books but this one really clicked with me. He reads the audiobook himself, and I found that several hours had passed before I realised. Admittedly, I might be one of those people who loves the topic, it’s a subject that is riveting to me, but he also demonstrates seamless ability to combine fact, fiction and perspective. Often you are left to decide what the truth is, and perhaps this writing isn’t quite as rigorous as Adrian Goldsworthy, whom I tend to hold as the gold standard for writing on Rome, but to be sure Holland’s writing is perhaps the most engaging for an ancient history book.

I think these aspects of style do gear this more to one not familiar with the history – the experienced reader may already know the facts and want to see an analysis and comparison of them, but that’s not to say it neglects these aspects. Merely that it has a lot of ground to cover before it can get to the period of peace, the Pax Romana on the cover.

Blood, Sweat and Prosperity

The instability and blood of the tumultuous periods are really complemented by Holland’s descriptions. The vision of Nero’s bulging eyes at his death, the massacre of Caesar’s rampaging legions, the vicious ravaging and rape of Cremona in 69 AD. This is a visceral, no holds barred history, something which I believe is necessary to remember – the shadow before the peace to come.

‘The true measure of manhood, so the Romans believed, was the capacity to endure grim ordeals of exhaustion and blood, and Titus, by that reckoning, was proving himself the hero equal to any from their city’s past.’ (Track 14 - Pax Romana audiobook)

Pax takes the reader on a journey then. It may not always be a complex and intricate analysis of the emperors before, during and after the Pax – for that would be prolix. But it is a carefully considered construction of the blood, sweat and trouble that the Empire had to go through before peace was achieved at all levels. What were the various emperors dealing with? What did the common soldier aim for? Often, everyone was aiming up, but ironically Marcus Aurelius, who in his own writings showed a reluctance for rule, was arguably one of the most effective emperors. But the ambition of not only Emperors but the common soldier, certainly helped the Empire expand so rapidly whilst being perhaps at the same time a rod for its own back, becoming so bloated and massive it became unwieldy and impossible to manage.

Final Score

For those readers experienced with Rome, I’d recommend getting the audiobook. Think of it somewhere between history and engaging narrative and treat it as such, and you will probably love it. Treat it as another ancient history book to cover the period in intricate depth and you might set yourself up for disappointment. For less experienced readers on ancient Rome and her emperors, it’s an excellent choice, although it’s focus means it isn’t easy to recommend above a book like S.P.Q.R by Mary Beard as a first read, its prose is so good that it would be a good choice to read early on.

Holland strikes an excellent balance here, not neglecting religious, multi-cultural, multi-hierarchical or military aspects, but instead subsuming them into a riveting story. A story that takes you to a time of peace and prosperity that makes you wonder if any Empire will achieve it again, and indeed, whether it was really a good thing given its temporary nature. Was all the blood and brutality to get there worth it? This is a superb book, and although its approach might not be your favourite, it is undeniably skilful and adept work.

9/10