**spoiler alert** This review will contain spoilers.
Personally, I really enjoyed this book, but I expect that very few with really love it. It gets of**spoiler alert** This review will contain spoilers.
Personally, I really enjoyed this book, but I expect that very few with really love it. It gets off to a slow start but I got hooked about half way through. You must have a serious love for latin literature, latin and academia to get through this otherwise you might be bored. At a minimum I would recommend familiarity with the canon, otherwise the academic drama in this will get rather convoluted, quickly.
I want to praise the author for his well written novel that depicts classical academia, and the toxicity that plagues the academic world in general. It is a fun play of the Apollo and Daphne myth, but this is one where neither of the characters are very likeable or very moral. I felt extreme sympathy for the archaeology team becoming a pawn in this situation. I also thought it was somewhat unrealistic that there was not a single trained classical archaeologist present trained in latin, and that they would have consulted with a philologist on this. That seemed off.
My only criticism personally- it's clear the author is a philologist and not an archaeologist. The main thesis of Tessa's discoveries rests on the finding of a burial to support her philological analysis, but inhumation was extremely rare in the Roman empire until the middle empire. Osteological evidence in the roman world is a huge problem for archaeologists, so this story line is quite impossible. If inhumations did exist, they were child burials. ...more
Just finished reading Imperium, the first book in this series following Cicero’s early political career and his prosecution against the corrupt governJust finished reading Imperium, the first book in this series following Cicero’s early political career and his prosecution against the corrupt governor of Sicily, Verres. It is his first major political victory which basically puts him on the map in Rome. The details of how he gathers evidence and outwits his opponents are fascinating, but probably a bit dull for non Ancient Rome enthusiasts as it’s mostly political action.
Harris captures the personality of the characters in the story particularly well based off of historical literature- not just Cicero but infamous peripheral characters as well, such as Catiline and Clodius Pulcher.
I would suggest this book to those who enjoy Cicero, Roman politics, and courtroom drama. Roman politics is notoriously difficult to navigate, and keeping track of names feels impossible, so I think it could be easy for a person new to the ancient world to get lost in it.
Also, my only complaint is that there is not a ton of world building (which is basically the entire point of historical fiction am I right?) it’s so narrative heavy you forget at times this takes place in Rome (at least I do), but the format of the story being narrated by Tiro- it makes sense there is not a whole lot of talk about setting.
4 stars for this one.I expect that I'll really enjoy the next to novels even more since the focus of those are the most intense/fascinating drama filled aspects of Cicero's career and the fall of the republic!
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