I just finished the historical novel, Imperium, by Robert Harris. It is the story of Cicero's rise to his first consulship, also known as Imperium, in 63 B.C. as told by his secretary Tiro. The novel is a fascinating read about Cicero's rise to power in the political hotbed that was Rome.
I normally need to see swords drawn and armies clashing to find a historical novel engaging, but through Harris' descriptive powers and being able to bring characters to life on the page, he was able to show just how exciting and lethal words and oratory could be.
One only has to look at our recent elections to see how effective an extremely good speaker can be in mobilizing the populace.
I highly recommend this book.
My only lament is that I wanted to see how the next twenty years of Cicero's life played out.
Needless to say I read about it on Wikipedia before I wrote this blog.
I really hope Harris will write a sequel to the rest of Cicero's amazing life.
I normally need to see swords drawn and armies clashing to find a historical novel engaging, but through Harris' descriptive powers and being able to bring characters to life on the page, he was able to show just how exciting and lethal words and oratory could be.
One only has to look at our recent elections to see how effective an extremely good speaker can be in mobilizing the populace.
I highly recommend this book.
My only lament is that I wanted to see how the next twenty years of Cicero's life played out.
Needless to say I read about it on Wikipedia before I wrote this blog.
I really hope Harris will write a sequel to the rest of Cicero's amazing life.
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