Robert Fabbri’s fictional account of the life of Vespasian has got better and better through the series. This is the sixth volume and covers the end of Claudius’ reign, and the very beginning of Nero’s, with Vespasian heavily involved again.
As the author admits, much of his early life is lost to history, and indeed, the period between the years 51 and 63 are almost a complete blank. He has made a conscious decision to fill it, building his fiction around real events. This does mean that he ends up having Vespasian involved in many events where in reality he probably played little or no part, but this is fiction, after all.
The book follows Vespasian as he becomes Consul, then through various adventures, with some familiar faces either helping or hindering his cause. He has some influential friends, but just as many powerful enemies, and some of his assignments are given in the hope that he will, at the very least, stay far away from Rome, or hopefully, never return.
The bones of the story are real history, and the author hangs the fiction very lightly around these events in a believable way. Vespasian himself has become a very real character, and his progression from idealistic youth to pragmatic politician with an eye for the future has been slow and perfectly paced over the series.
Although loyal to those that matter to him, he has become the person that all in his position must have been to survive. Vespasian is generally remembered as one of the ‘better’ emperors, but in reality he must have been just as calculating and ruthless as the rest, at least when he needed to be. After all, his origins were relatively humble, and to reach the purple was an extraordinary achievement.
Like the earlier books, this is well-written, well-paced, with outstanding characters. I particularly enjoy the way that Fabbri breaks up his story; the books don’t really have a definite beginning or end, each volume runs into the next, and there are a number of overlapping plot lines that run over several volumes. You could argue that this is just a ploy to encourage you to buy the next book, but it’s one of the things I love about reading a series.
Vespasian is one of those historic figures who has always interested me, and the lack of solid information has been frustrating. Although obviously fiction, this series has filled the gap well, and is giving a plausible and very entertaining version of his life. I would certainly recommend it, but you definitely need to start at the beginning to get the most out of it.
This is a review of the Corvus 2015 Kindle edition.
It is an extended version of my review previously published on Amazon and Goodreads.
