Roman All Over Town

'Meet the Romans with Mary Beard' (BBC2) is presented by the enthusiastic and extremely  knowledgeable Mary Beard, Cambridge Professor of Classics, and has already been marked by too much discussion about her appearance which, 'thetvreviewguy' isn't going to discuss. What he is more than happy to look at is Rome and how Professor Beard conveys classical history with panache, vigour and, perhaps most importantly to the non-expert viewer, humour. Augustan Rome, far from being the 'civilised' centre of Empire (where, of course, slaves and women were second hand citizens), was a a brutal, dangerous place where living in the suburbs meant residing with cut-throats and vagabonds in an unpoliced, cheek-by-jowl existence. Beard's history was fascinating because she looked at tombs, dwellings and shops of ordinary Romans - the middle class, for want of a better word, between slaves and Senators. Thus, when looking at the Forum, she referred to Plautus' guide to the seedy side of the historical complex. We were taken underground to see how Rome was built upon narrow streets, where according to a contemporary account, you could shake hands from one opposing window to the other. This was a city of around one million people, a total that would not be surpassed until London in the 19th Century; this was truly a city on an epic scale. Professor Beard should be commended for making the past come to light and by showing us, like any good historian does, how we differ to and what we have in common with, the Romans.