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Book Review of The Gates of Rome (Emperor, Book 1)

The Gates of Rome (Emperor, Book 1)
I-F-Letty avatar reviewed on + 73 more book reviews


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.