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Colin Thubron
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Emperor Paperback – January 1, 2002

by Colin Thubron (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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The Emperor Constantine crosses the Alps at the head of a great army from the Rhineland in AD 312, and marches south to take Rome from the tyrant Maxentius. As he lays siege to the city of Verona, Constantine waits for the arrival of his wife, Fausta - his enemy's sister - whose cool detachment torments him. "Emperor" is a superbly imaginative reconstruction of the dramatic weeks leading up to Constantine's triumph in Rome. Written in the form of extracts from his own journal and letters from his empress, her frivolous female companion, his cynical secretary and a Christian bishop who is travelling with the army, the novel records a train of events which will change the world. Constantine is plagued by spiritual doubts, tortured by his wife's coldness, but he defies the omens to win a great victory at Verona and to lead his army south. On the road to Rome, the conqueror becomes the conquered as a blinding vision strikes him from his horse in an astonishing conversion to Christianity. "Emperor" summons up the Roman world of two thousand years ago, the everyday life of soldiers on campaign and the intrigues at court. But it is also the many-faceted story of a man's loss of faith in God and in human love, told with uncanny brilliance.
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  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage/Ebury (a Division of R
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.43 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0099287293
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0099287292
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage/Ebury (a Division of R; New Ed edition (January 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0099287293
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099287292
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.43 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

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Colin Thubron

Colin Thubron

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Startling Alternate View of Constantine the Great
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
Powerful! Epistolary novel giving us an startlingly original and imaginative view of the Emperor Constantine. We relive the two fall months in 312 AD from preparations before the Battle of Verona, journey South, until the eve of Constantine's battle with his brother-in-law, Maxentius, at the Milvian Bridge. The author has written a numbing interpretation of what Constantine saw in the sky, as reported from several different characters' viewpoints--Synesius, his private secretary; Geta, the head of secret police; Fausta, his wife; a bishop traveling with the army, and summing up given by Tetricus, Praetorian Prefect.

From a [fictional] collection of letters, private diary entries, memoranda, crisp police reports the author has fashioned a masterly work detailing Constantine's "dark night of the soul" and his feelings of abandonment by his god, the Invincible Sun. Battle scene at Verona was equal to best I've read elsewhere. All of the characters were fully-fleshed: the intense, emotional, saturnine, pragmatic Constantine; his enigmatic wife, Fausta; the various civilians and military officers. We witness Constantine's extreme reaction at the death of his good friend, one of the legates, and we are privy to the course of Constantine's tempestuous marriage. Public events, such as Verona and the vision, are described by several different figures. Very well-written; it was hard to believe a sheaf of documents could put me right into the story--and into the heart of the protagonist.
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keetmom
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting recreation of one of the key turning points in world history
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2014
Colin Thubron is one of my favourite travel writers and here he turns his ability to capture people and places to great effect in creating an account of the Emperor's Constantine life in the crucial weeks leading up to his adoption of the Christian faith. This of course, was a major turning point in world history and is cleverly recreated as a collection of historical writings and documents some of which capture Constantine's own voice. The Emperor is caught at a moment of great pressure politically and personally. He stands ready to commit his outnumbered army in the final role of the dice against the pretender who controls Rome and he wrestles with a complex moment in a deteriorating relationship with his wife. The death of his great friend throws him into an existential crisis. The crumbling world of the Roman Empire is powerfully recreated as are the great battle scenes. The account of the moment when Constantine falls from his horse after experiencing what he calls a vision, is also well related.
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Stephan L. Burton
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and beautiful
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2007
What really happened on the 24th of October, A.D. 312?

Thubron's narrative, composed of bits & pieces of fictional journal entries, letters, etc. by various concerned parties, begins on the 23rd of August of that year and ends on the 27th of October - the day *before* the battle of the Milvian Bridge, which is mentioned only in an endnote.

His focus is relentless: Constantine's vision of the flaming cross and all that led up to it.

When it finally comes, that vision is described and assessed by no fewer than six different observers.

But it's pretty clear that Thubron's own view is expressed, in the end, by these words that he attributes to Tetricus, the Praetorian Prefect:

"I believe that Constantine did not have a vision of light. No. He had a vision of darkness and chaos. He saw a universe without order, or God, or any meaning at all...Constantine, unable to endure what he had seen, spread the Christian cross over that unthinkable abyss..."

Not a happy or cheerful book. But brilliant and beautiful.
3 people found this helpful
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George Wellington
5.0 out of 5 stars A jewel
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2001
This book is one of my favourite novels, and brings together my interests in history, philosophy, and theology perfectly.
Written in the form of memoirs of the various characters, the novel covers Constantine the Great's march on Rome culminating in the battle at Milvan Bridge (312AD). The book centers on Constantine himself on the eve of his "miraculous" conversion to Christianity, and his struggles during the campaign - religious, martial and marital. The characterization of the Empress Fausta and the aging Synesius are perticularly adept.
Highly recommended.
7 people found this helpful
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