Tagged: marcus brutus
Emperor: The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Whitcoulls Ebooks.)
The year is 53 B.C. Julius Ceasar approaches his final destiny—a destiny that will be decided not by legions but by his friend Brutus and a bewitching Egyptian queen named Cleopatra.
Fresh from victory in Gaul, Julius Caesar leads his battle-hardened legions across the Rubicon. The armies of Rome will face each other at last in civil war, led by the two greatest generals ever to walk the seven hills.
From the spectacles of the arena to the whispered lies of conspirators, Conn Iggulden brings to life a world marked by fierce loyalty and bitter betrayal, with dark events shrouded in noble ideas.
Emperor: The Gods of War was my introduction to both Conn Iggulden and the world of Gaius Julius Caesar, despite the fact that this book is the fourth (and last) book in the Emperor series. My mother had bought it for me for my birthday one year and she is notoriously bad at finding the first book in a series. Nevertheless, I read it and it left quite the impression on me.
The Gods of War is the most exciting book in the series and is an example of Conn Iggulden at his finest. Love, lust, friendship, loyalty and betrayal are all prominent themes and they are what make reading this book a cinematic experience. I vote for the Emperor series to be the next series adapted into movies because the screenwriters would not even have to alter the story very much. The characters are larger than life and there’s hardly ever a dull scene.
Conn Iggulden really brings his characters to life, thus making history a bit more accessible to the average modern reader. He generally sticks to the facts of historical events, but what sets his books apart is the fact that he assigns realistic motivations to the people behind these events, particularly Caesar. When he writes, it feels like he was really at these events and knew the people that caused them. One scene in particular stands out in my mind, when Brutus complains to his mother, Servilia, that Julius overshadows him:
“I am the best of my generation, Mother. I could have ruled. But I had the misfortune to be born to a Rome with Julius in it. I have suffered it for years. I have pledged my life to him and he cannot see it.”
She pulled back from him at last and shook her head. “You’re too proud, Brutus. Even for a son of mine you are too proud.”
I think Iggulden hit the nail on the head with that scene, which of course leads up to the infamous Ides of March.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Emperor: The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of GetGlue.)
For Julius Caesar, the time has come to enter the political battleground that has become Rome. Having proved his valor in the slaves’ revolt, Caesar is strengthened by the love of a beautiful older woman—and by the sword of his loyal friend Marcus Brutus. But it is Caesar’s next move that will change history. With an army made in his own image, Caesar begins a daring charge through Gaul, across the English Channel, and to the wilds of tribal Britain.
Here, in a series of cataclysmic clashes, the legend of Julius Caesar will be forged. And while Caesar and Brutus battle the armies of the wilderness, their political adversaries in Rome grow ever more powerful. For when the fighting is over, the greatest danger to Julius Caesar will await him on the Tiber—with a man who wants Rome himself.
The Field of Swords is truly riveting historical fiction of the first order and Conn Iggulden managed to write it without changing history around as much. Surprisingly, the third book in his Emperor series is my favourite out of all four because it is by far the most exciting in terms of plot and character development. It covers the most famous part of Caesar’s life: the Gallic Wars.
War is one of my favourite parts of historical fiction because of all the details of ancient warfare fascinate me. History textbooks do not even begin to cover how physically, mentally and emotionally draining it was on the men and those who had to lead them. Warfare was not a glorious event and Iggulden perfectly hammers this point home.
I absolutely love the character development in this book. Caesar becomes more independent as all of his old tutors and friends die off, leaving him with Brutus as his only friend. How could his only friend orchestrate Caesar’s death? Well, there is a very telling scene near the end of the book when Caesar suffers from an epileptic fit and is unable to lead his men in battle. Brutus dons Caesar’s armour and leads his men into battle.
“You led them?” Julius said. Though his voice was strengthening, he still seemed confused.
“No Julius. They followed you.”
Thus the seeds of jealousy were planted in Brutus’ heart.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Emperor: The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Barnes and Noble.)
In a sparsely settled region of North Africa, a band of disheveled soldiers turn their eyes toward one man among them: their leader, Julius Caesar. The soldiers are Roman legionaries. And their quarry is a band of pirates who dared to kidnap Julius Caesar for ransom. Now, as Caesar exacts his revenge and builds a legend far from Rome, his friend Marcus Brutus is fighting battles of another sort, rising to power in the wake of the assassination of a dictator. Once, Brutus and Caesar were as close as brothers, devoted to the same ideals and attracted to the same forbidden woman. Now they will be united again by a shock wave from the north, where a gladiator named Spartacus is building an army of seventy thousand slaves—to fight a cataclysmic battle against Rome itself.
In The Death of Kings, Conn Iggulden has managed to simultaneously thrill and annoy me. He thrills me with his wonderful writing, the characters he brings to life and his fast-paced plot, yet he manages to annoy me in his usual fashion when he changes major historical events to suit his narrative. But before I start ranting, let me list the many reasons to read this novel.
It is mostly historically accurate and Iggulden excels in bringing near-mythical figures like Caesar, Sulla, Marius, Pompey and Cato the Younger to life. In their own time they were the leading men of Rome, but they had not achieved the legendary status they have today. Iggulden takes that into account as he develops these characters that are not much different than you or I. They love, lust, fight, cry, rejoice and, most importantly, have doubts about their abilities or if they are fighting for a worthy cause. One of my favourite characters (aside from Caesar himself) is Marius because he had always been a larger than life figure in my mind before Iggulden made him more human.
The Death of Kings is definitely more fast-paced than the first book because Caesar is grown up, more involved in politics and plays an active part in many battles that were going on at the time. There’s also an interesting subplot featuring Cornelia (his first wife) and Sulla that Iggulden uses to kill off the Dictator. We also see more of Brutus, who is a very strong, but fatally flawed character. These two subplots do not take away from all of the action and instead are used to bring the plot forward, which is why I love them.
But, as regular readers will know, Conn Iggulden annoys me because he sees fit to mess with history. He kills off Sulla and Cato, both of whom died many years after the events of The Death of Kings. In Iggulden’s novel, Sulla is poisoned when in fact he died of old age after retiring from the office of Dictator. Cato publicly commits suicide to avoid execution just before Pompey and Caesar go to put down Spartacus’s rebellion. Cato really did commit suicide, but it was not until after the battle of Pharsalus when Caesar finally defeated Pompey after a bitter civil war. In my opinion, killing off Cato so early denied us a look at the dour senator who was always a thorn in Caesar’s side.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Barnes and Noble.)
In a city of grandeur and decadence, beauty and bloodshed, two boys, best friends, dream of glory in the service of the mightiest empire the world has ever known. One is the son of a senator. The other is a bastard child. As young Gaius and Marcus grow to manhood, they are trained in the art of combat—under the tutelage of one of Rome’s most fearsome gladiators. For Marcus, a bloody campaign in Greece will become a young soldier’s proving ground. For Gaius, the equally deadly infighting of the Roman Senate will be the battlefield where he hones his courage and skill. And for both, the love of an extraordinary slave girl will be an honor each will covet but only one will win. But as Rome is thrust into the grip of bitter conflict, as every Roman prepares to take sides in the coming battle, Gaius and Marcus’s friendship will be put to the ultimate test.
For two thousand years, people have been wondering who Gaius Julius Caesar really was and in his bestselling novel, Conn Iggulden attempts to answer this. Very little is known about Julius Caesar’s childhood and he presents a semi-plausible explanation for what shaped the great general’s early years. While I commend him for his cinematic, dazzling novel, I wish he had not sacrificed historical accuracy for the sake of drama.
Conn Iggulden admits in his ‘Historical Note’ at the end of the novel that he changed how Caesar was related to Marius, when Marius died and even how the dictator Sulla himself died. The first change was completely unnecessary, the second and third were for the sake of drama alone. Many of the changes Conn Iggulden made were unnecessary, but he was writing for the mass market instead of Roman historians.
The character of Julius Caesar is an excellent, well-developed one. His determination to prove himself and his love for Cornelia are all very realistic and make the mythical figure of Caesar into a living, breathing human. The Gates of Rome is a good book for people who do not mind historical inaccuracies and complex politics in historical fiction.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.