Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
not a bad read, but over-rated, 17 Mar 2006
By A Customer
Firstly, this isn't nearly as well-written and compelling as I, Claudius with which, inevitably, it gets compared. Massie may know his history but makes no attempt to place the novel within the moral/cultural/linguistic sphere of 1st century bc Rome, and instead peoples it with characters who sound a bit like bad 70's film actors (especially Maecenas, who calls Augustus Duckie!) He probably also has more sympathy for Augustus himself than most classicists working in the field today, and leaves the complexity of the politics of empire untouched.
That said, it's not a bad read but I would resign it to being a 'commute' book rather than an intellectual one.For a very different take on Augustus and this period, read Ronald Syme's Roman Revolution - not an easy read, but a satisfying one.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent summary of the reign of Rome's first Emperor., 9 May 2002
By A Customer
This is an impressive analysis of a man who literally made history. The Emperor Augustus was the first of the Roman Emperors, creating a system of government that lasted for four hundred years. Massie's book is neatly split into two parts. The first looks at Augustus' incredible rise to power over shadowing his more experienced rivals Cassius, Brutus, Cicero, Antony and Cleopatra. A breathless story of unbridled ambition, hope and ultimate success. The second part is more melancholy with the winner of the Mediteraneon accessing what he has lost in pursuit of that prize. This chapter examines Augustus' large family, the double dealing and partisanship that anyone familiar with I Claudius will recognise. Yes, the language is colloquial which makes it an accessible read but does grate after a while and the story told in the first person does detract from what at the time must have been an inexplicable rise to power. However these are minor criticisms. No one has got as close to the psyche of Augustus Caesar as Allan Massie. Well worth a look.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Make the reader believe totally, 6 Dec 2000
It is perhaps one of the best books I have read. Even before my interest in Rome and Roman things was peaked I was given this book to read. I could not put it down. Written in the first person by Augustus himself it allows us, the reader, an unexpected intimacy with this enigma of a man. You cannot but help to admire and even like him, although, as any leader of that time he did things that we find shocking. The author makes us believe that the story is based on new writings recently found by archaeologists. I believed that bit of fiction for a short time after I had read it. I wanted to believe it. It is a great book, and a book that you will want to read over and over again. Allan Massie is a great writer and especially so with his Roman series.
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