Search - The Gates of Rome (Emperor, Book 1)

NOT for history buffs! This series has the main characters from Caesar's life but none of the facts are correct. If you want to learn about the real Caesar, this series is not for you, instead check out Collen McCullough's Roman series. This series is an okay read if one totally disregards history, but it would have been so much better if Igullden had used the astonishing facts of Caesar's life to construct his novels.

For example:

Book
Caesar was raised on an estate outside Rome
His mother was mentally ill
Marcus Brutus was his best friend
Brutus's mother, Servilia, was a prostitute
Octavian and his mother are poor and not educated or refined
And on and on and on....


Reality
Caesar was raised in the Subura of Rome, a tenement district, which goes a long way to explaining his identification with the common people
His mother was a highly respected Roman matron who raised him and was admired and respected in Roman society
Brutus was about 13 years younger than Caesar and was actually a friend of Caesar's daughter, Julia
Servilia was a Patrician and although she had affairs, she was not a prostitute
Octavian and his mother, Atia, were Patricians and not poor

Fast-paced, interesting - love anything with Julius Caesar

Like Rome the Television show but in Book Form. NOT like anything by Livy

I tried to read this last year and just put it aside. I picked it back up for a challenge read and I am glad I did. It is an excellent book, I had heard that Conn Iggulden was a very good author and as I have his Genghis on my list as well I thought I would try this again.

It is the story of young Gaius Julius Caesar, and his foster brother Marcus Brutus from 8 years old to around 18. Iggulden imparts a great deal of information in a simply effortless style. Little is known about the early life of Caesar so Iggulden tells the story of how young men of their class would have been raised. I will be reading the other in the series and will be looking for to doing so. The character are fully drawn and as he tells of the brutal up bring of Gaius and Marcus at the hands of an retired gladiator you can see the shaping of these two boys into the men they would become. The death of his father in a slave uprising brings them in contact with Maris Caesar's Uncle co-consul of Rome who is himself in a power struggle with his co-consul Sulla.