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    The Course of Honour: A Novel
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    The Course of Honour: A Novel
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    The Course of Honour: A Novel
    Ebook412 pages7 hours

    The Course of Honour: A Novel

    By Lindsey Davis

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In ancient Rome, ambitious citizens who aspired to political power, to become one of the ruling elite—a senator, had to follow what was known as "The Course of Honor." This course had only one unbreakable rule: a senator is forbidden to marry a slave, even a freed slave. When the soldier Vespasian meets an interesting girl in the imperial palace, he doesn't know she is a slave in the household of the imperial family. But he is inexorably drawn in by her intelligence and charisma. Yet as Vespasian slowly rises from near-obscurity and as emperor after emperor plays out their own deadly, seductive games of lust and conquest, the future is something no one could imagine. No one could believe that a country-born army man might win the throne—no one, that is, except a slave girl who, with the future Emperor, begins a daring course of honor of her own.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 12, 2009
    ISBN9781429990325
    Unavailable
    The Course of Honour: A Novel
    Author

    Lindsey Davis

    Lindsey Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, England. After taking an English degree at Oxford and working for the civil service for thirteen years, she “ran away to be a writer.” Her internationally bestselling novels featuring ancient Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco include Venus in Copper, The Iron Hand of Mars, Nemesis and Alexandria. She is also the author of Rebels and Traitors, set during the English Civil War. Davis is the recipient of the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, the highest accolade for crime writers, as well as the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award and the Authors' Club Best First Novel award.

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    Reviews for The Course of Honour

    4/5

    21 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A very interesting riff from Davis - a biographical novel about the emperor Vespasian's lover Antonia Caenis. Well worth reading.
    • 5/5
      This book remains my favorite of all her books. I have read every book this gracious lady has written, but the story of Vespasian's lady, based in real events, is the most compelling work of Lindsey Davis to date.
    • 4/5
      Wavering between 3 and 4 stars. The middle part, when Vespasian is mostly absent, definitely drags a little; plus at times (especially the chapters covering the Year of the Four Emperors) it feels more like reading a history textbook than a novel, albeit an engaging one. But I LOVE the relationship between Caenis and Vespasian. I love how the author doesn't try to downplay or modernize the concept of "duty" as the Romans understood it. Also, love how the nods to Suetonius are worked in--Vespasian referred to as Sabinus' footman, etc., etc. Overall, an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      This is the fictionalized biography of Antonia Caenis, the woman the Emperor Vespasian loved his entire life. Due to Roman law, they could never marry, as she was born a slave, even after she became a freed woman. As a prophet told her and the future ruler of Rome, her face would never be on the coinage. Caenis is an empathetic personality. Touchy, but brilliant, she never gave up on her love and did everything possible to launch his brilliant career. The weaving of these lives into the history and politics of Rome was excellently done, as Caenis was first hand witness to the more spectacular events of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. As a long term fan of Davis' Falco mystery series, this is the best thing she's written. She found a female voice, who though stoic can't be called long sufferings, as she succeeded in a world designed to defeat her.
    • 3/5
      Fictionalized and imagined biography of Antonia Caenis, the consort of the Emperor Vespasian. All we actually know about her is that she was a freedwoman of the Empress Antonia, that Vespasian had a relationship with her for decades, that after the death of his legal wife, she lived with him openly, and that Domitian was rude to her in public once, and this was noted unfavorably (to him). On this slender basis, Davis weaves a story set in the Julia-Claudian court, and taking in most of that tumultuous history. Having read many of the Falco books before this, I found the protagonist to be very like Helena Justina, and a bit of a Mary Sue. But it was still a good book, and well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      Before reading this book I hadn't read much historical fiction that takes place in Ancient Rome, so this was pretty new to me. I loved that this was based on real people and real events. This was fascinating and written well. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Ancient Rome or any historical fiction fans. I look forward to reading more of Lindsey Davis' books.
    • 5/5
      I adore Davis' Falco series set in Vespasian's Rome, its one of my favorite historical mysteries and if there's a new one, I always read it. This book is Davis' take on Vespasian's career told through the eyes of Caenis, the slave and then freedwoman who he loved throughout his entire life. We follow everything through Caenis' eyes. She is a slave in the palace and then later for Antonia, so has a unique perspective on the Claudians. The romance between Vespasian and Caenis is subtly presented as their lives are complicated in terms of class, money and politics. Davis handles it all deftly as well as weaving through it a knowledge of yes, we all know how this ends but lets play in the details. Reading this made me want to go and reread and rewatch I, Claudius, which examines the same general area in time, a masterful historical novel.
    • 5/5
      Lovely book by Lindsey Davis, whose magnum opus is the Falco series of Roman whodunnits. This stand-alone novel is not a mystery, but a fictionalized life of Caenis, the mistress of the Emperor Vespasian. There really was a Caenis; according to the Roman historian Suetonius, she became Vespasian's wife in all but name after the death of his wife Flavia. Around the slender frame of the known facts, Davis winds a believable and touching story of the relationship between a girl who started out as a slave, and an emperor who started out as the son of a minor provincial official. Full of historical information, but none of it in the least impedes the flow of the novel.
    • 2/5
      This is not a romance novel. That's really important to know, because if you're looking for a romance novel (it is, for some reason that totally escapes me, labeled as "romantic suspense") this is not the book for you.It is however, a very good and enjoyable novel about love. • Lindsey Davis has mastered the history of Rome and I couldn't pick out any historical errors - there might be some, but I sure didn't see 'em, or if I did it was good enough I didn't care.• The lead character is kind of an awesome feminist figure. She's incredibly independent and takes no shit. Also, it doesn't do that awful thing where they pretend life ends at 30. We follow about 40 years of her life - and she never stops being herself.• Historical characters seem like they're real breathing living people. She makes the world feel incredibly alive and real and immediate.• The story develops in a very organic kind of way, feeling like a life story, not like a forced narrative. This actually works really well - I was interested enough that I wanted to know what would happen, even without a plot-driven narrative.----• I probably wouldn't have been nearly so interested if I hadn't known my Roman history like the back of my hand - the reason the narrative worked was that I knew that Vespasian would be emperor someday (OMG spoilers! But seriously, it's 2,000 years old) and I just wanted to see how it would happen.
    • 5/5
      Before she started her witty and successful Falco series, Lindsey Davis wrote this book, but couldn't get it published. How glad I am that Falco's success allowed us to see this gem! As the readers' poll on her website testifies, it is in many ways her best - and best-loved - book.
    • 4/5
      Historical romance set up with a fabulous heroine.
    • 5/5
      Lovely story about the paths of the lives of a Roman emperor-to-be and a slave woman of intelligence, who happen to love one another
    • 4/5
      Unlike her other novels, this is not a murder mystery, but a novel about the romance between Antonia Caenis and Vespasian, which lasted from their youth when she was a slave and he was the son of a provincial tax collector, and lasted until her death when he was Emperor of Rome and she lived openly as his freedwoman consort (he could not under Roman law marry a freedwoman). Funny, engaging and horrible in places (as is inevitably going to be the case in a novel set in the times of the Julio-Claudians), this is for me a more interesting read than the Falco whodunnits, which I quite like but find a bit too superficial compared to the murder mysteries of Steven Saylor.