Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome
    Unavailable
    Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome
    Unavailable
    Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome
    Ebook898 pages14 hours

    Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome

    By Steven Saylor

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "May Steven Saylor's Roman empire never fall. A modern master of historical fiction, Saylor convincingly transports us into the ancient world...enthralling!" —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, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome's empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the 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 Great 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 ancient world to vivid life in a novel that tells the story of a city and a people that has endured in the world's imagination like no other.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateAug 31, 2010
    ISBN9781429964999
    Unavailable
    Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome
    Author

    Steven Saylor

    Steven Saylor is the author of the long running Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel. Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.

    Read more from Steven Saylor

    Related to Empire

    Related ebooks

    Ancient Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Rebel With A Lost Cause

      Mar 5, 2019

      Rebel With A Lost Cause
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 30, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 27, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Good Servant

      Aug 8, 2022

      Windsor, March 1932 “Good evening, Miss Crawford.” A smart young man in uniform was waiting on the platform when she stepped off the train. She was startled. “Aye. That’s me. How did you know?” “Easy.” He smiled. “There aren’t that many young ladies

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Literary Zoo

      Dec 9, 2021

      A Literary Zoo
      4 min read

    • Article

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows

      Nov 1, 2022

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows
      11 min read

    • Article

      Alice And The Jabberwocky

      Apr 10, 2022

      ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe. Once again, Alice found herself in her bedroom, feeling rather mimsy indeed. Every day now, at two o’clock, she would sit at

      18 min read

    • Article

      Saint Cuthbert’s Incorruptible Body

      Sep 8, 2020

      In the year of our Lord 687, in cause of an early, wet spring, the body of Saint Cuthbert was laid in the ground to rest. On the tomb were figured angels and seraphim of plain but wonderful design. And among these flitted cherubs, like apricots set i

      19 min read

    • Article

      Echoes

      Jun 29, 2022

      Echoes
      9 min read

    • Article

      Worship On High

      Oct 18, 2021

      Worship On High
      5 min read

    • Article

      There’s No Place Like Home

      Aug 17, 2022

      NÍL aon tinteán mar do thinteán fhéin,’ Rose says (it means: ‘There is no fireplace like your own’) every time we turn in through our gates and catch a glimpse of the house at the end of the drive. We have been leading such a peripatetic existence of

      2 min read

    • Article

      Hardback To Backpack

      Dec 30, 2020

      Hardback To Backpack
      3 min read

    • Article

      Housewarming

      Dec 1, 2022

      DENNIS MCFARLAND’S most recent novel is Nostalgia. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and the Scholar, among other places. When Kevin arrived at the top floor and stepped into a long dark hallway, he couldn’t re

      21 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Jun 16, 2021

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mr Wolf ’s Candy House

      Aug 7, 2019

      Mr Wolf ’s Candy House
      4 min read

    • Article

      Love will WIN

      Oct 4, 2023

      Love will WIN
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Lightest Object in the Universe

      Oct 1, 2019

      Kimi Eisele’s debut novel, The Lightest Object in the Universe, is a love story set against the background of societal apocalypse—which means it is a narrative of hope in the face of despair. Eisele, an author and artist living in Tucson, Arizona, is

      3 min read

    • Article

      My Interiors Life: Weaned On The Small Screen

      Nov 25, 2021

      FOR ME, IT WAS ALL DOWN TO what I saw on the box (which was a lot) — and this extended too to the arenas of action: a fantastic littering of such beautiful and extraordinary interiors, not one of which had I ever set foot in, nor even so much as glim

      9 min read

    • Article

      Books As Balm

      Oct 11, 2023

      WHEN I’m feeling weary and blue… I go to a bookshop,’ as Noël Coward didn’t quite write in his unusually sad song World Weary. A particular type of bookshop is mandatory, of course, with an inviting, but not too flashy window display, rickety, bulgin

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Dullard

      Jun 5, 2019

      The villagers of Yockenthwaite knew him as ‘Jack Dull’, ‘Jack Dolt,’ or sometimes just ‘The Dullard’. His real name was John Dullard, last in a long, illustrious line of Dullards, and a man – so they said – of quite miraculous stupidity. The kind of

      7 min read

    • Article

      TWO ESSAYS from FINGER EXERCISES FOR POETS

      Nov 1, 2022

      Russian Formalists have a word, “ostranenie,” which means constantly attempting to discover new ways of looking at everyday things. There are almost always two realities rubbing up against one another in every poem, whether they are specified or not,

      10 min read

    • Article

      Lost Children

      Aug 4, 2022

      Lost Children
      5 min read

    • Article

      Stop Hating on Adjectives!

      Jun 12, 2019

      A common admonition in creative writing pedagogy is, “Cut as many adjectives as possible.” I propose that this rule springs from mere prejudice. The post Stop Hating on Adjectives! appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Elsi, The Strange Maid

      Aug 29, 2018

      Elsi, The Strange Maid
      17 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Empire

    3.5/5

    108 ratings20 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This book is Saylor at his best – interesting characters mingle with historical figures that shine in the light of all the obvious research he has done. Rome’s history comes alive in minute detail and on a grand scale. Apollonius of Tyana is a particularly fascinating philosopher that we meet along the way – something of a cross between a Zen master and some kind of magician. We also meet the emperors and share in the wonder, scandal and violence of their various reigns. Hail, Steven Saylor, those who love Roman history salute you!
    • 4/5
      This is the sequel to the author's novel Roma, which covered the 1000 years of Roman history from before the city's founding up to the time of Augustus. Empire covers the 130 or so years from the last days of Augustus to the early years of Antoninus Pius. These years are, of course, the years of Roman history that are by the far the best known, with the (in)famous sucession of Emperors, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, the year of the Four Emperors, the Flavians, the Colosseum, Vesuvius erupting, the cruel tyranny of Domitian, then the calmer period of Trajan and Hadrian. The successive members of the Pinarius family get into all sorts of antics from being senators, augurs and the confidantes of Emperors, to fighting a lion or being burnt as a Christian in the arena. As in the first novel, there is a great deal of exposition of historical events through set piece scenes that can get wearisome after a while (show, don't tell!), even for a reader like me with a considerable interest in Roman history. So, like its predecessor, this is (mostly) a good page turner, but not as good as Saylor's Gordianus series of mysteries, where the characters are far more fully fleshed out and likeable.
    • 3/5
      An enjoyable read. Better than the first in the series. The story of the fascinum and the Pinarius family is carried forward through the early empire to the time of Hadrian. Well told, a few twists and turns. The darks side of the emperors is revealed.
    • 4/5
      Empire follows the life of a few generations of the Pinarius family in the early Roman empire. It continues where the author left off in his book Roma. The latter book covered a longer period of time, and left little space for character development. However, this book spends time on individuals, but uses a rather crude device to fill in the gaps of history, especially in the first half of the book.The characters interact with the Roman Emperors (e.g. Nero, Claudius, Domitian, Hadrian) in various ways, and give a sense of life in these times (assuming the author has accurately captured it). It's a big book, one I picked up and read over many months as time permitted. I enjoyed it, but in the end not really sure what I got out of it other than an addition to my knowledge of history.
    • 4/5
      This is an attempt by Saylor to chronicle the history of Rome during its "Empire" phase in the first and second centuries in a fictional format. Saylor's key characters are successive generations of the Pinarius family, a slightly obscure patrician clan who nevertheless in this book move in and out of the orbit of a number of Emperors including Caligula, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian. Occasionally there is a slightly irritating tendency for characters to recite, history book style, a brief summary of events to another character simply as a format for bringing the reader up to date. But given the scope of the novel that is an understandable sin and overall this is an enjoyable and interesting read.
    • 3/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program, and since it is a sequel to the book Roma, I decided to read that book first. The two books together cover the history of one fictional family from the founding of Rome in around 600 BC, to the reign of Hadrian. The first book covers around 600 years, so there is very little character development, but Empire only covers about 150 years, so there is much more detail on the lives and relationships of each generation of the Pinarius family.I've read a few other of Saylor's books on Ancient Rome, from the Gordianus the Finder series, and I liked those books better. Empire and Roma felt more like a synopsis of the major events of Ancient Roman history, with a fictional character inserted into the events. Since this was such a fascinating period of world history, it did make for interesting reading, but I'm not sure it made for a great novel.
    • 3/5
      In this novel, Mr. Saylor documents the drama and history of Rome through the eyes of several generations of a noble Roman family. His research is impressive and there is a ton of information in this 600 page account of life in ancient Rome. Unfortunately, the book is freighted with so much exposition, infodump and "As you know, Bob" dialogue, that the reader must struggle with loss of interest. Character action takes a distant backseat to the drama, architecture and politics of Rome. Worth reading for those interested in data on Roman history; not so much for those principally interested in a novel.
    • 3/5
      Both this book and its predecessor, Roma, adopt the Edward Rutherfurd/James Michener approach to saga-telling: placing characters, linked through family ties, in stories revolving around crucial time periods or events. I'm not a big fan of Rutherfurd's books, but told myself I might enjoy this series more as it's set in ancient Rome. But nope. At least in this sequel, Saylor doesn't leap entire centuries and generations in a single bound, but big chunks of this hefty book are still devoted to characters earnestly discussing recent events with each other so that the reader can be caught up on what they've missed. That's a ham-handed way of addressing the problems created by the decision to link the lives and stories of four generations of the Pinarius family, and it meant that rather than being a compulsive page-turner, this book turned into a cure for insomnia. (Except when it was giving gruesome descriptions of gladiatorial battles and other such events on what came to be known as the Colosseum, that is, which I found overwhelming in another way. Less is more when it comes to creating atmosphere!!)I'm a big fan of historical fiction, but not this kind of historical fiction, where the characters are simply two-dimensional devices for writing about Rome and its history. The dialog is stilted and the events sometimes hilariously obvious (as when you see the guy responsible for special effects at a theater creeping around on the stage.) For instance, characters sit around discussing one of their group possibly moving to Campania, and how he had dropped in on good old Pliny at his home near Pompeii, when suddenly they hear the noise of an eruption... Yeah, you get it.. I'm giving this 2.5 stars simply because it may appeal to readers who are curious about ancient Rome and know little about it. Saylor has read all the primary sources, and does a good job hewing closely to history, but that doesn't make this readable. I'd suggest reading Robert Graves (I, Claudius) or Colleen McCullough's series, starting with "the First Man in Rome", rather than this. Both are equally authoritative, and infinitely more lively and readable whereas this -- happily -- is a book I will happily forget about having read. Not a good historical novel -- not a good novel, for that matter.
    • 4/5
      This book is a great example of why one would want to read historical fiction! I've had Saylor on my list of authors to look out for and this is the first one I've actually read. Very excited to dive in! In general, I find historical fiction about Ancient Rome terribly dry. Not this one! Saylor has struck a beautiful balance between history class and interesting fiction, wrapped up neatly in a very readable form. Although quite a long book, it felt nicely paced and didn't seem to drag. I enjoyed the characters and the plots. I also very much enjoyed the writing itself. Saylor has found an eloquent way to teach and enrich his readers. For elements of history about which the reader may be unfamiliar, the author finds a character or some other clever way to explain what is going on. The book is well researched, though I did not get the notion that Saylor felt compelled to share every bit of his research with us... which I appreciated. I would very much recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Ancient Rome... or anyone who just wants to read a good book.
    • 4/5
      Do not be put off by the size of this book. Saylor does a great job of keeping the story interesting enough to keep you flying through the pages. He clearly did his research with this novel, and (as a classicist) I found it an interesting way to immerse myself in imperial Rome. My one caveat (which may have stood out more to me, since this is a personal pet peeve) was that Saylor was apparently intent on showing off the research he did, which would have been fine if it was part of the background narrative. However, I found myself reading dialogue where one Roman character explained some historical or mythological story that the other characters would already know, being Roman themselves. (I am thinking particularly of the early portrayal of Claudius, who would go on about things to his Roman patrician cousin Lucius that Lucius would definitely know already, such as the myth of Niobe.) As other reviewers have noted, Empire does not have one straight line of narrative throughout; rather, it is separated into smaller vignettes to get a glimpse of more aspects of imperial Rome. The chopping up of the narrative took me out of the flow somewhat. Despite these issues, I still enjoyed reading Empire, and would recommend it to others.
    • 3/5
      To paraphrase some Queensryche I once heard, "He's building Empire." This is the second installment in his second major series.Saylor always does a magnificent job illuminating the ancient Roman world. Can't thank him enough for making Rome live again in popular fiction.Here we are back in the Pinarian series rather than the Roma Sub Rosa mystery series, but all things being equal, Rome is Rome. This follows the family of Pinarius through the Augustan reign and ramifications. (Coincidetally we find Hadrian building his wall while I teach classes in Latin with characters living alongside Hadrian's wall.)That said, this book has a much more wooden feel to it than the mysteries. I believe it is far less literary than historical, and suffers because of it. Cramming in all the details of Roman life and real peoples has left little room for character development and emotional investment. Now, for an historian like myself, I am happy either way. However, as a reader of fiction, I find this book more wanting than his others.Someone squirmed about the salacious side of things. I welcome the honesty and think that we should stop glossing over the Roman past. It was full-blooded, not whitewashed stone. So I didn't mind that at all, and thought it actually could have been used to generate more effective characters if utilized correctly. But anyway...A good read regardless and recommended for anyone with an interest in ancient Roman history or culture.
    • 4/5
      I didn't really know what to expect, I've read the books in the Forgotten Legion series which takes place during the time of Julius Caesar and this book starts in the time of Augustus. The book follows the patrician Pinarius family through the generations and how each was affected by the different emperors and how each emperor changed Rome.finish later
    • 3/5
      What would it be like to have the best tour guide in Rome give you a guided tour through the city, giving you the history of every building, the cultural context, the events and emotions that transpired there? That's what Empire (and its predecessor Rome) is like. Saylor has lived his entire professional life in ancient Rome and knows it like the back of his hand. Rome & Empire are very different in format to his Roma Sub Rosa detective series; they are much more episodic "food tastings" from different periods. The history and context are wonderful. But they're not always a fictional "meal". Characters do not live for the entire novel, but come and go as the tapestry is woven. Almost all the characters die offstage, and so the novel rarely strikes deep emotionally. But it's wonderfully informative.Covering the period from AD 14 to 141, Empire shows us the madness of Caligula and the architectural passion of Hadrian. The scenes with Caligula are salacious yet horrifying, and bring home the reality of an infamous period of history. Many familiar characters and stories make their appearance (Nero "fiddling" while Rome burns, the stammering Claudius first popularized by Robert Graves). The early rise of Christianity is present as well. There is an ironic and amusing nod to our current military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Apparently Emperor Trajan had an "Ask not, Tell not" policy towards Christians, who were viewed with suspicion by Roman society. Empire is half fiction and half history lesson. As a history lesson, it goes down easily and is far more consumable, if less serious than, say, The Fall of the Roman Empire. As fiction, it's enjoyable, but doesn't truly strike deeply. And it is a tome - weighing in at 600+ pages. I think the novel could profitably have been edited down. Still, it's enjoyable, engaging history; but to my tastes not nearly as enjoyable as the Gordianus novels. (Reviewed for the Early Reviewers Program)
    • 2/5
      An easy to read book, considering the breadth of time and events covered, however the character development is not as strong as one would like, you never felt as if viewing the events from inside the book. on the other hand, the historical detail was excellent and well presented.
    • 2/5
      As with Roma (the previous book in what is definitely headed to being a series) a book which sparks an interest in Ancient Rome, but a somewhat... err... salacious one. Perhaps it's more noticeable this time through, but I believe the author's point is not so much as to enlighten but to scandalize. I found the less sexy bits to be much more interesting, but it was almost tiresome to go through two hundred pages of "that again?!" before finding something which wasn't completely focused on the character's sexual history. Then again, how on earth did he avoid mentioning the usual scandals surrounding Nero's sexuality, having handled everyone else's? As noted in the author's afterward, the difficulty with this period was avoiding a focus on the emperors, but truthfully I don't think was as successful as his last attempt. And it's rather interesting how the author simply brushed under the table what in the previous book was a secret worth killing over (and then proceeded to use the same plot again). I don't think I'll seek out the next book, although the next emperor in line I believe had a remarkably staid life, so maybe I can avoid the concubines and eunuchs for once...
    • 3/5
      "Empire" continues the story of the Pinarius family chronicled in Steven Saylor's earlier novel "Roma." Roma followed the aristocratic family from the founding of Rome through the Republican years. "Empire" picks up at the end of Augustus' reign and concludes at the end of Hadrian's, covering about 130 years and four generations of Pinari. Saylor sets himself a Herculean task to cover the major events and people of the times in an entertaining and accessible way using a formula perfected by James A. Michner in his historical epics. He mostly succeeds. Each "chapter" of the book covers a different Pinari generation and varies in the quality of the story telling and character development. The first chapter is the briefest at 68 pages and seems to exist solely for the purpose of filling in a bit of Roman back story before Lucius, the main character and his family are banished to Alexandria, Egypt. Lucius, we hardly knew ye! And from what little we do know, Lucius seems to be a pleasant, but dull, man. Augustus and his wife Livia make a brief appearance, Tiberius retreats to his island, and the evil Sejanus throws a mild scare into the family. Hardly the stuff of epics. The most interesting character in this section is Claudius who seems to step from the pages of Robert Graves' book I, Claudius with his stammer, limp, and almost feral ability to keep his head down and off the chopping block.Things pick up after that. The remaining three chapters are much longer and Saylor does a better job of developing the characters, both his fictional and historic ones. The most interesting relationship is that of Titus (in the second generation) with Nero. Saylor does an excellent job giving us insight into one of Rome's most complicated and misunderstood emperors. So he had his mother assassinated, kicked his pregnant wife to death, and couldn't sing very well...Nero had an artist's soul and a vision for Rome after the great fire. And Titus is instrumental in achieving it, after nearly losing his life in one of Nero's "entertainments."My least favorite Pinarius is Lucius (of the third generation) who spends his life depressed; doing nothing but staying out of sight of the various emperors who reign during his long life—primarily the lesser known Flavians, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. He is Saylor's vehicle for introducing these fascinating emperors and meeting some of Rome's famous philosophers and writers, but has almost no substance of his own. He is slightly redeemed with a tragic love story with one of the very few women characters in the book who had anything resembling a personality. The other "woman" character who gets some space and sympathy is actually a cross-dressing eunuch that everyone refers to as "she." From my own researches, I know Roman women were very involved in politics, arts and trades. Lucius has three sisters, but we never see them or even learn their names. Too bad. They may have been more interesting than their brother. Where he falls short on character development, Saylor excels with the historical details. The pitfalls and snares of various emperors and their courts are rendered in chilling detail. Not only the details of politics and religion; but fascinating facts on food, clothes, architecture, and fire control are deftly slipped into the story. As a reader, I could picture myself walking down the streets flanked by magnificent marble temples, smelling the smoke of Rome burning, feeling the heat of the sand in the arena. His description of what it was like to be in the audience of the Flavian Amphitheater (the Roman Coliseum) was one of the best I've ever read. Ditto the building scenes in the fourth chapter as Marcus Pinarius helps build Trajan's Column and renovate the Pantheon. Saylor obviously did his homework and it shows. Except when he is describing something, Saylor's writing is workmanlike. My particular peeve is the "As you know, Bob..." lecture chunks—usually at the beginning of a chapter or section following a time jump—in which Saylor has his characters describe events they already know about, in order to bring the reader up to speed. The worst case is at the beginning of a section starting in A.D. 80 when a character cries to a friend, "What a year, what a terrible, terrible year!" and then proceeds for the next page and a half recounting the disasters they both had lived through. Most readers won't care, but as a writer, I've had it drummed into my head that use of "As you know, Bob..." is a lazy way to write.In summary, I found Empire a mixed bag; lots of credit for covering such an epic time period with accuracy and interesting detail, points off for uneven character and story development, and an average grade for writing craft. I'd recommend this book to people who want to get an overview of the time period in an interesting way. Folks who are already steeped in the events and historic characters might find the book frustratingly shallow. I'm not faulting Saylor, so much as the format. Multi-generational epics are notoriously hard to write with any depth. Kudos to Steven Saylor for his effort.
    • 4/5
      This book is the second in a trilogy that covers the history of Rome, from the founding of the city through the Republic, and into the time of the emperors. This particular book covers the period from the end of the reign of Augustus to the reign of Hadrian.The story follows the Pinarius family, an ancient patrician family who have witnessed some of Rome's greatest triumphs and worst tragedies. Members of the Pinarius family find themselves mixing with the Roman emperors, who both influence and are influenced by the Pinarii.I have read all of Steven Saylor's books, and while his writing is nothing spectacular, I find that his storytelling prowess keeps bringing me back for more. The books are easy to read, and it is clear that he has done a great deal of research to make the stories as historically accurate as he can, while still creating an entertaining plot. Throughout the story, Saylor introduces the reader to historical figures including emperors, playwrights, philosophers, and poets, whose writings he has used in his research for the book. I believe this lends it a somewhat more authentic feel than other historical fiction works in this vein. I look forward to the final book in the series!
    • 3/5
      I was excited to get the chance to review this book; I had Roma sitting on my bookshelf for quite some time and hadn't had a chance to read it. I read Roma by the same author, I was not impressed and well I went into Empire with a heavy heart knowing that I would probably not enjoy this book if it was anything like Roma. I think the author has a great idea; however, he didn’t pull it off in the book. The writing is more technical than beautiful. It didn't capture any emotion, the characters were not human enough, they didn’t have any depth. I know that he covered a lot of ground, but instead of writing such a big book on so many people, maybe writing more books and developing those characters and the story. I didn’t grieve for the characters, more likely they annoyed me, they were either really sweet perfect people or complete tyrants who were against the people. The sentences were simple and boring.I give it three stars for trying; however, I doubt I will want to read anymore of Mr. Saylor’s novels based on the two that I’ve completed in the last week.
    • 5/5
      A tour-de-force of the history of Rome from Augustus to Hadrian, as experienced through the fortunes of the Pinarus family. This sequel to Roma is every bit as entertaining and full of historical bits and pieces as it predecessor. Saylor knows Roman history and it shows.No matter what your interest--gladiators, emperors, architecture, politics, scandal, feasting, battles, slaves, scheming men and women, art, religion--you name it, and this book has something in it. Pleasantly enough it lacks gratuitous sex and foul language. Micheneresque novels have always appealed to me; this had me scrambling for my copies of Suetonious, Penguin atlas of ancient Rome and other reference books.
    • 3/5
      “Empire” is Steven Saylor's highly anticipated follow up to his centuries-spanning historical fiction saga, "Roma". Both books trace the ancestral evolution of the Pinarii family 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 those elements in “Empire”. Each of four chapters tells a discrete and self-contained story 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 propel 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 historical 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 biggest 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 almost as if in trying to hit all events in a given era, none are enough of a focus to allow time for the solid development of members of the Pinarii clan. I felt very little emotional pull towards the members of the family, 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 historical 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 interestingly 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 often feels stilted, unnatural, and boring when used to provide historical background, whereas his integration of history and fiction works well while events are actually 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 enjoy his sense of tragedy. Without giving too much away, the Pinarii clan is admirably (yet naively) staunch in their loyalty to their Emperors and friends, and it's enjoyable to be spectator to the historical train-wreck of such an amazingly varied group of personalities and events.Each story is connected as one generation of Pinarii gives way to the next. An interesting device that Saylor uses is having one or more characters transition a new Pinarii generation from the old. 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 stories including freedom of speech and religion, human rights, philosophy, and other 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’ historical luminaries like Suetonius, Apollodorus, Dio, Sejanus and many others make for nice surprises."Empire" is a fun, light-weight introduction to 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 those looking for a consumable introduction to and exploration of Roman history, "Empire" is a good starting point.