⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 7/10
Vespasian is one of the more appealing Roman emperors. Emerging after the volatile ‘year of the four emperors’, we know surprisingly little about him. This, of course, allows Robert Fabbri a lot of artistic freedom for this series about his life.
This is volume 8, and we are nearing the end of the story. Vespasian has been made Governor of Africa by Nero, but he has some powerful enemies. He is ordered to travel to a small kingdom outside the empire to rescue 500 citizens who have been enslaved.
Vespasian sees negotiation as the order of the day. But when he arrives things start to get out of control, and the surprise appearance of an old enemy changes everything. Eventually, he has to cross miles of barren desert with his entourage and the freed slaves.
In Rome, Nero goes from bad to worse. There are many groups conspiring to overthrow him, but most are amateurish at best. When Vespasian finally returns from Africa, he and his brother Sabinus are approached by several conspirators, and they have to decide where they stand.
The author has made a real success of Vespasian as a man and a character. He has developed over the preceding books from idealistic youth to cynical – but still highly likeable – survivor. He has more to juggle than many of his rivals. The family were never rich, so he has to deal not only with the everyday political challenges, but also work to secure the future of his family. A few events in this volume show not only his financial vulnerability, but also provide one or two solutions.
The world the author conjures is generally very believable. He brings the febrile atmosphere of Nero’s court to life well, and it is easy to see why such situations – not too rare in Roman history – weren’t resolved more quickly. No one knew who to trust; very few people were prepared to make the first move. Even within the same conspiracy, there were betrayals and rivalries.
I do have one or two criticisms, though. Firstly, one that I had for a couple of the previous books. At times, Fabbri seems to get carried away with explicit and crude descriptions. It happened in the books about Tiberius and Caligula, and it happens here. I’m in no way prudish, but it seems out of place, and inconsistent with the rest of the writing. I’m not sure if the author feels the need to do it in an attempt to show us how horrific these emperors were, but it isn’t necessary. Orgies where the women are unwilling participants will tell us all we need to know, without needing graphic descriptions of some of the activities. And the events surrounding the death of someone very close to Vespasian were unnecessary and, crucially, potentially changed the dynamics of other aspects of his life.
The other issue concerns what I might call lazy characterisation. Vespasian’s sons, Titus and Domitian, are rather one dimensional – good son, bad son. Perhaps this is based on what we know of their later lives, but they are entirely predictable. As is Nero really. He is the pantomime villain, with no real depth.
Having said all this, and come this far, I will certainly read what I believe is the final volume when it appears. Vespasian is one of the more likeable emperors, and Fabbri has generally done an excellent job in giving us his version of the story.
This is a review of the Corvus 2018 Kindle edition.
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