Tiberius [Paperback]

 

 

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Of the four novels in the author's series about Roman rulers I have read so far, this is the one that seemed to flow the best. In some respects the most interesting as Tiberius is perhaps relatively less well known than Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Augustus, he comes across as a sympathetic man who would much rather not be supreme ruler. An engrossing read. I hope Massie continues with his series and decides to do Claudius, Robert Graves notwithstanding.

Clever, witty and original, Allan Massie writes under the name of the emperor who everyone remembers for being bloody and cruel. Tiberius himself, a man who forced to divorce his wife to marry Augustus' own daughter Julia, forced to become emperor and so bitter as to treat Julia and her children so brutally that each one in turn committed suicide just to get away from him. This novel takes us into the mind of Tiberius and gives us a smashing tale of sex, violence and rivalry.

Tiberius grew up with his brother and father until his father sadly died and he is taken into Caesar's home. His mother, Livia, is the wife of Augustus and ambitious for his future. However, growing up he finds his interests in other things such as the army and even worse, his young, beautiful and desirable stepsister. Constantly teasing him, Julia knows that she is able to arouse Tiberius into such emotions that he willingly gives into his desires. When Tiberius takes Vipsania as his wife, he still can't help taking to Julia's bed rather then his wife's. However, once Julia consents to marry Vipsania's father, Agrippa, their affair stops and neither of them see each other again for a long while. Tiberius grows to love Vipsania tenderly and though not passionately, he respects and admires her calmness and softness. After the birth of their son, Tiberius feels happier then ever. However, upon the death of Agrippa, his widow Julia is forced to return to Rome where her father makes Tiberius a new match in the form of the object of his desire...

In the second half of his life, everyone he knew, he loved and lusted are dead: Augustus, Julia, Vipsania and Drusus, his beloved brother, leaving him quite bitter and reproachful. For good reason as he is faced with a creature of an entirely different order: Agrippina, Julia's daughter. While carrying similar beauty to her mother, she lacks anything of the charm, cheerfulness and happy-go-lucky that Julia had, but with the same self-importance and self-perfection that Augustus had and the same snappy and hard going streak as her father Agrippa, that makes Livia look tame. His slow descent into carelessness and cruelty is shown as he slowly begins to write off his harsh punishments of having Agrippina sent to the island of Pandataria where "his poor Julia" had dwelled in exile, and the slaughter of Sejanus and his allies as a thing that had to be done.

TIBERIUS is a vast improvement of the first novel AUGUSTUS, showing entertainment and fairness and making it sound less like a TV-show from the sixties, as AUGUSTUS appeared to do. His dislike of Augustus, his respect for his mother, his affection for Vipsania and his lustful obsession with Julia all of this and more paints a colourful and entertaining book while putting Tiberius into a fresh light where you still see him from the cruel and harsh man he became, yet you see history turned towards the man himself and see things on not what "exactly" happened but what might have. Rather then making him too perfect and self absorbed about things as Augustus does in AUGUSTUS, Tiberius knows he is faulted, cruel and bad, and he shows it without ever having to say it. Whether, of course we were met to believe Augustus was a pompous and self-absorbed man in AUGUSTUS, I'm not entirely sure. After reading AUGUSTUS, rush off to your library; bookshop or friend's house to read TIBERIUS to see not only Tiberius with a clean slate but of characters of the first book, most noticeably Julia, put into a light where they are seen for what they were to another individual rather then everyone. This detail makes TIBERIUS such a joy to read, its more realistic and exciting overview on life from anyone other then Augustus.

This is a fantastic book that captures all of the political and sexual excesses of the Roman Empire. Far from being a boring Historical text book Massie brings the Diaries of great Caesars to life. Massie has created some of the most gripping literature I have read, and what is so amazing is that it is not fiction! For those who have read 'American Psycho' (written by Brett Easton Ellis) Tiberius and all of the other Caesars in Massie's books strongly resemble 'Bateman'. You dont have to be a historian to enjoy this fantastic story.

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