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A review by heartland_hermit427983
Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris
4.0
this is not a thorough review. it's the end of 2022 right now. I read this back in around 2017 maybe.
Looking for a light story to transport yourself to an imagined version of Ancient Rome? Give this one a try.
When I say light, it's not literature. It follows a kind of formula of with building tension, crisis, epiphany, resolution. These a succession of social, legal, and political hurdles/crises Cicero encounters and he comes off a rather a litter more of a superman even than he probably was.
This was a fun entry into the Late Republic. I was just getting into ancient Rome with youtube videos by Historia Civilis when I picked this up. I wasn't ready to read history texts, or translations of texts from the era, I just wanted to walk the streets of Rome in my imagination with some help from a willing author. That's what this book provided. This is a decently written novel that employs the natural drama that was the lives and doings of the political elite in the late Republic. Historically accurate? No idea. I imagine it struck a balance between readable, relatable, and using our knowledge of the time as best as possible.
Cicero is a good character to focus on. Among Romans of the era, he's someone who comes off as sane, sensible, practical to my 2022 Midwestern American sensibilities. Relatable, admirable.
Anyway, give it a try. I'll do a more thorough review if I get around to giving it a reread.
Looking for a light story to transport yourself to an imagined version of Ancient Rome? Give this one a try.
When I say light, it's not literature. It follows a kind of formula of with building tension, crisis, epiphany, resolution. These a succession of social, legal, and political hurdles/crises Cicero encounters and he comes off a rather a litter more of a superman even than he probably was.
This was a fun entry into the Late Republic. I was just getting into ancient Rome with youtube videos by Historia Civilis when I picked this up. I wasn't ready to read history texts, or translations of texts from the era, I just wanted to walk the streets of Rome in my imagination with some help from a willing author. That's what this book provided. This is a decently written novel that employs the natural drama that was the lives and doings of the political elite in the late Republic. Historically accurate? No idea. I imagine it struck a balance between readable, relatable, and using our knowledge of the time as best as possible.
Cicero is a good character to focus on. Among Romans of the era, he's someone who comes off as sane, sensible, practical to my 2022 Midwestern American sensibilities. Relatable, admirable.
Anyway, give it a try. I'll do a more thorough review if I get around to giving it a reread.