Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome
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“May Steven Saylor’s Roman empire never fall. A modern master of past fiction, Saylor convincingly transports us into the very ancient world…enchanting!” —USA Today on Roma
Continuing the saga begun in his New York Times bestselling novel Roma, Steven Saylor charts the destinies of the aristocratic Pinarius family tree, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome’s empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the very ancient world and of the emperors that ruled it—from the machinations of Tiberius and the madness of Caligula, to the decadence of Nero and the golden age of Trajan and Hadrian and more.
Empire is filled with the dramatic, defining moments of the age, including the Fantastic Fire, the persecution of the Christians, and the astounding opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novel’s heart are the choices and temptations faced by each generation of the Pinarii.
Steven Saylor once again brings the very ancient world to plain life in a novel that tells the tale of a city and a people that has endured in the world’s imagination like no additional.
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Last summer I read Saylor ’s “Roma” and was astounded by this past epic, following one family tree through one thousand years of Roman history. As such, I preordered its sequel.Empire is far less ambitious in scope than Roma, covering just over one hundred years. Saylor employs the same approach as in Roma, focusing on the same family tree (the Pindarii) and grounding the reader with an amulet that is passed from heir to heir. In Roma, the amulet transformed through its thousand-year history from a lump of metal alleged to contain the essence of a god into a winged phallus (representing said god, Fascinus), into a rotting shape roughly similar to that of a cross — appropriate, agreed that Roma finished in the first year “anno domini”.
Although said designation was made during the medieval era, that year did start a new era in Roman history, for after the decline of the Republic and the establishment of an increasingly autocratic Empire, the only voice in Roman politics that mattered was the voice of the Emperor, who is hailed in the books as “Dominus”. Empire is a tale told in four parts: two tales lengthy enough to count as novellas, bookended by two shorter tales. The first starts in the last months of Augustus, while the tale ends with the appointment of Antonius Pius.* The intervening emperors — especially Caligula, Nero,and Domitian — drive the book. Their ambitions, whims, and favor — or disfavor — force the Pindarii to reflect on their feet time and again. The Pindarii are patricians, once disgraced but restored to dignity when a family tree friend dons the purple and gold. They remain within strangling distance of the Emperors for most of the book, which is excellent for the reader but to some extent miserable for them.
Although less ambitious, Empire does not disappoint: the drama here dwarfs that of his Roma sub Rosa series: on more than one occasion I bolted to my feet surprised by a plot twist. His Pindarii are more sympathetic in Empire than in Roma, which may force the reader to be more nervous about how they might survive the Year of Four Emperors, the madness of Caligula, the Fantastic Fire, the eruption of Vesuvius, and the Emperors’ increasing power. Past persons appear throughout the novel beyond the emperors: Seneca, Epictetus, and Seutonious are three that caught my attention, but as in Roma Saylor introduced me to more that I had never heard of, like Apollonius of Tyana. The city itself is a background character, continually changing with the ambitions and tastes of the men who rule it. In some ways, Empire is even superior to Roma: Saylor’s authorial voice is much less forward, as he allows his characters to handle exposition.
While Empire is an brilliant work of fiction on its own, it paled a bit compared to its predecessor for me: what most impressed me about Roma was its scope, and the way Saylor took advantage of the timeframe to turn one generation’s facts into another’s legends, giving the reader a plain sense of time passing by. These one hundred years do not allow Saylor to accomplish the same beyond the reader being aware of Roma’s physical changes and the increasing tolerance Romans have for living as subjects of fickle masters.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
If you like Steven Saylor’s past mysteries (I do), or you like past fiction, or you are fascinated by the history of Very ancient Rome, you will adore this book. It is to some extent similar in conception to books like James Michener’s HAWAII (published years ago) and more recent works like NEW YORK the novel by Edward Rutherford, though persons take in much wider swathes of time. Rather than staying in one time period, this novel gives you the broad sweep of history by between together several tales or novellas set in the reigns of different Roman emperors. The link in this book is the history of the Pinarius family tree, who we met in Saylor’s terrific earlier novel ROMA. We follow seceding generations of this family tree and see them work out their destinies against the backdrop of Roman history from the waning of the Augustan age until the reign of Hadrian.
This sort of past novel has its strengths and limitations. It gives you sweep and a sense of a long period of history. It does not give you the pleasure of snuggling up with a single cast of characters for six hundred pages. I usually prefer novels to fleeting tales because I like to live with one character for a while, but just the same, here I was along for the ride. Saylor hooked me in each chapter. He sketches character with a deft hand, and his evocation of the very ancient setting makes Rome come alive. Both the fictional Pinarius family tree and real past facts such as Nero were plain and appealing to place it mildly. Saylor has the skill with plot that you would expect from a leading writer of mysteries, building this a fantastic read.
You can agree or not with Saylor’s take on past personages. He obviously draws on exhaustive research using very ancient sources. I do want to say a word for Livia. who past novelists make into such a villain. Cassius Dio tells us that after she died the Senate voted to erect an arch in her honor, for among additional things saving “not a few” lives. Recent biographies by Mary Mudd, Anthony A. Barrett, and Matthew Dennison give accounts of her as a brilliant, powerful woman in a society in which women were not supposed to exercise power. Unsurprisingly she became the target of grave rumors. They don’t hold up under serious scrutiny. I, CLAUDIUS was fantastic fiction.
I loved this book tremendously and am keenly waiting for the next installment. Thanks to the publisher on two accounts–building this quickly available on Kindle–I loathe having to wait past the publication date for a book I really want–and publishing it with text to speech enabled. That is a real plus with a novel you don’t want to place down. I read most of this, listened to some while doing chores, devoured it all in nearly one gulp, and truly had a ball.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
“Empire” is Steven Saylor’s highly anticipated follow up to his centuries-spanning past fiction saga, “Roma”. Both books trace the ancestral evolution of the Pinarii family tree as they bear witness to the foundation and growth of Rome and its Empire. “Roma” covered the earliest foundations of Rome through the civil wars, while “Empire” picks up at the end of the reign of Augustus in 14 A.D. through the reign of Hadrian in 141.
Roman history is made up of fact, rumor, and myth, and Saylor hits on all of persons fundamentals in “Empire”. Each of four chapters tells a discrete and self-contained tale set during key moments in the real or mythological history of Rome involving both fictional and non-fictional characters and events.
Saylor uses the Pinarii like stepping stones across a stream of time; each stone provides just enough footing to force the reader onto the next rock of time. The chapters place a different Pinarii generation under the spotlight and provide enough drama to fill an entire book in itself.
The chapters are highlight reels of their respective periods. In the early years, Saylor gives glimpses of Livia’s evil which is very reminiscent of the Livia from “I, Claudius”. He opens a window on Tiberius’s sadistic hideaway on an island off the coast of Italy where he purportedly kept young boys for his own pleasure. The second chapter runs the gamut of Caligula’s psychoses and Claudius’ dramatically failed marriages. Readers also get a surprisingly poignant portrayal of Nero “fiddling” while Rome burns. In the third chapter, Saylor provides a past discourse that includes the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius, the history of the development of the Flavian Amphitheater (known now as The Colosseum), and the rise and fall of the Flavian Emperors. In the final chapter, Saylor takes readers to the building of Trajan’s column and the Pantheon and gives an all too brief glimpse of the philosopher-emperor Hadrian.
The largest frustration with “Empire” is the vastly inconsistent development of Saylor’s primary characters. The Pinarii are like castles made with wet sand. Just as they gain a bit of definition, substance and depth, they either fall apart or are washed away. It’s nearly as if in trying to hit all events in a agreed era, none are enough of a focus to allow time for the levelheaded development of members of the Pinarii clan. I felt very small emotional pull towards the members of the family tree, neither particularly liking nor disliking any of them. This void of raw human drama significantly reduces the cohesion of each generational chapter and no amount of past activity is able to overcome that vacuum.
The strongest character in the book is Emperor Nero whom Saylor paints as a subdued version of any Nathan Lane character. Nero ranges from sadistic to dramatic to regal to shockingly out-of-touch-with-reality. Though his end is predictably tragic, Nero and his era are the most fascinatingly interpreted. I have a bit of a bias towards Hadrian, but Saylor also did a fine job representing the erudite, introspective, and insecure monument-building Emperor.
Saylor’s dialogue regularly feels stilted, unnatural, and dull when used to provide past background, whereas his integration of history and fiction works well while events are really taking place. The most awkward moments come during a series of dialogues providing background on Rome during the reign of the Flavian Emperors. In some cases, Saylor uses this approach to set up future scenes; in others, it’s as if he’s trying to shoehorn in as much history as possible.
Saylor doesn’t go for the Hollywood endings when it comes to the Pinarii, and I delight in his sense of tragedy. Lacking giving too much away, the Pinarii clan is commendably (yet naively) staunch in their loyalty to their Emperors and friends, and it’s enjoyable to be spectator to the past train-wreck of such an amazingly varied group of personalities and events.
Each tale is connected as one generation of Pinarii gives way to the next. An appealing contrivance that Saylor uses is having one or more characters transition a new Pinarii generation from the ancient. Claudius carries over from the first chapter to the second. Several of Nero’s inner clan are close with Titus Pinarius in Chapter 2 and remain close to Titus’ son Lucius is Chapter 3. Emperor Trajan is the transitional character between Chapters 3 and 4.
Saylor touches on a number of themes throughout his tales including freedom of speech and religion, human rights, philosophy, and additional high- and low-lights of Roman culture. And while there’s already a lot going on in this 600-page novel, cameo appearances of Rome’s’ past luminaries like Suetonius, Apollodorus, Dio, Sejanus and many others make for nice surprises.
“Empire” is a fun, light-weight introduction to Very ancient Roman history. The writing style is smooth and simple, and Saylor hits on most of the major themes and incidents in each of the respective time periods. For persons looking for a delicate introduction to and exploration of Roman history, “Empire” is a excellent starting point.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5