If I had the opportunity to hold that imaginary historical dinner party, I’ve always thought one of my picks would be Marcus Agrippa. Yes, Augustus himself would be interesting, but it seems to me that his friend and faithful supporter might be even more so.
After all, there are few in Roman history who have risen so high, yet seemed to have no ambition to take that one step further. And there are few who have risen so high without incurring the suspicion of the top man and suffered a gory fate.
Anyone who knows even a little about Roman history is aware that our knowledge of Agrippa is limited, and trying to write his biography is an ambitious task. So has Lindsay Powell given us a new insight into the man who helped Octavian rise to power, and then keep him there?
There is certainly a lot of information. It is, perhaps, halfway between popular history and a more academic work, with masses of lists, appendices, notes and a bibliography. These take up more than half the book. Whilst they are packed with detail, I do wonder who will read them all. Those familiar with the subject may not need them; those new to it will find it all rather daunting.
And when you get down to the meat of the book, it is ultimately disappointing. That lack of sources is evident from the beginning, with the author mainly telling the story of Octavian/Augustus, and adding Agrippa in, either based on the few sources or, more often, based on supposition and assumption. It is an interesting story, but you never feel it is Agrippa’s story.
The style is rather dry, as well, meaning you never feel the author got close to his subject, so as the reader you don’t either. There are long passages of intricate detail where it really isn’t needed, such as battle formations, or lists of people, which sometimes led me to skim forward. I never felt involved in the action.
The structure is rather strange too, with some jumps in time for no obvious reason, and an assessment chapter at the end, which merely summarises the whole book, without adding anything. There are also many grammar and spelling mistakes, which don’t help.
In the end, I’m not sure I can recommend this book. For those who know their history of the time, it won’t add anything new. For those taking their first steps into Roman history, it’s likely to put them off with it’s style and lack of feeling.
This is a review of the 2015 Kindle edition.
Click here to view the book on Amazon.
