But on the main questions, Bing proves to be a keen analyst. Rome Inc flourished because it had a sense of mission, a well-marketed brand and highly effective management, especially in the middle ranks. It could survive and prosper even when led by some very dicey executives, the kind who regarded themselves as gods, choked on their own greed and gave decadent parties with carved-ice figures that urinated vodka. Wait. That's Dennis Kozlowski. But the point remains the same.
Bing offers up quite a few yucks on the way to the Forum, but the conceit is hard to sustain. It's a little like a Saturday Night Live sketch that has been turned into a feature film. There are islands of hilarity surrounded by large pools of still water. It's funny, at first, to imagine the Romans grousing about their bosses around the water cooler, but the schtick grows stale. And by the end, it's hard to come up with more than a wan smile at Bing's description of Catiline as "a midlevel pischer" who "didn't have the juice to get the big job done."
The funny parts, though, are very funny. Bing takes off on some inspired flights. And his chronicle of Rome's decline is undeniably poignant. "All that was left of the great Rome Inc in the west was a small stand that sold Italian ices on the steps of the Parthenon," he writes. "It is still there."
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