Imperium

By Robert Harris,

Book cover of Imperium

Book description

When Tiro, the confidential secretary of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events which will eventually propel his master into one of the most famous courtroom dramas in history.

The stranger is a Sicilian,…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked Imperium as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The fact that this trilogy was turned into a stage show is a measure of its fantastic popularity! On the face of it, a set of novels about the machinations of late Republican politics might not hold broad appeal, but it is the genius of Robert Harris to bring the crime and corruption-riddled streets of 1st century BC Rome bursting to life.

Apparently, he spent several years immersing himself in contemporary literature before putting pen to paper, and it really shows. I admired how his research paints vivid background colour without ever stepping upon the toes of the brilliantly drawn…

Harris is of course already a world-famous thriller writer and his technique is impeccable. He brings two great things to this account of the rise of Cicerofirstly, the narrator is Cicero’s slave-secretary, Tiro, and secondly, Harris sees the campaign trail with the eye of someone who was a notable political journalist and observer. He brings this expertise to a dissection of Roman elections that I found breath-taking and utterly convincing. Tiro was a brilliant choice of narrator as wellintimately involved in the action, but a slave, he constantly reminds us of a very unpleasant side of…

My favorite novel set in Ancient Rome, and perhaps my favorite novel period. This series follows the personal slave of the famous Roman Statesman Cicero. The first-person perspective allows us to see directly into the inner workings of the Roman Republic. The details are visceral, the emotions are real. Despite his vanity and arrogant tendencies, you find yourself constantly cheering for Cicero in his struggle to achieve respect in the cutthroat world of Roman politics. This book was a major inspiration for me as I began writing my own series, and I continue to return to it to this day.

From Vincent's list on set in Ancient Rome.

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