The first volume of Robert Harris’ historical novels about Cicero, one of the last and greatest of roman republicans. A “new man” – one who has none of the magistracies of the Roman republic amongst his ancestors – Cicero initially makes his constituency amongst the poor and provincials, prosecuting aristocrats who have misused their positions. However this finds him running up against the optimates, the faction of the aristocrats, and swiftly finds himself outstripped by the populists who have radical ideas. Meanwhile he fails to find favour with Crassus, the richest man in the world and the supporter of many in the senate who lack resources. And now the young, brilliant general Pompey is returning, also intent on political power.
In a fit of brilliance, Harris writes it as though it is the lost biography of Cicero by his secretary Tiro. Tiro invented a shorthand that was so widely used that some of the abbreviations (NB, i.e., e.g.) and symbols (&) are still in use today.
Read This: For a very accessible, if not always conventional, look at Rome as it staggers towards the end of the Republic.
Don’t Read This: If the transformation of Rome from Republic to Empire is of no interest, or you’d rather read some actual history, don’t blame you.
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