MY ROMAN HISTORY

For a scholar of Roman history, the struggle to understand Rome’s inhabitants and cultural norms “expanded [her] as a scholar and as a person.”

In 2005, Holstein, an independent editor, earned a doctorate in medieval history from Cornell. Although she sketches out a timeline of Rome from the first Republic through Empire to modern times, the author is particularly interested in the 14th century, a “rather gloomy period of Roman history” when the papal retinue under Clement V left the city for a 70-year residence in Avignon. Holstein’s thesis centers on the question of how medieval Romans understood their city's storied past and how a “mythologized memory of a ‘golden age’ of the past was used in the struggle for political and social power.” The author describes her lifelong education in Italian language and culture, as well as her struggles with paleography, the study and deciphering of historical manuscripts. The book’s title signals that the narrative will be a personal reflection on what Rome has meant to her and how her life and learning led her to its centuries-long story. Consequently, along with the history, Holstein offers reflections on apartment hunting, rock-climbing clubs, and learning Latin. We follow along as the author jumps through the many hoops necessary to gain access to the treasures of the Vatican Library, and we get a good sense of what living in Rome was like for her during her many research trips. More heartfelt memoir than dry history lesson, the product of Holstein's lifelong fascination with Rome answers her primary questions: “What can an American tell anyone about Roman history? What could she say that an Italian had not already said? How could I know anything about Rome that an actual living, breathing Roman did not?” She turns up plenty.

An intriguing history of Rome as reflected in a scholar’s life.