I loved Tiberius

Jeg elsket Tiberius/Den fønikiske trappen/Pilatus og nasareeren #1

by Elisabeth Dored

Augustus is Rome's first emperor and last puritan, and his daughter Julia, who tells her story here, is the victim of both his ambition and his fruitless attempts at reform. Rome, almost at the height of its expansion, spreads from Jerusalem to Britain, and along the coast of Africa. In the City, tyranny has begun in earnest, as the Senate loses control and the upper class succumbs to mysterious poisonings, interbreeding, excessive luxury, and vice.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book as part of my 2021 book challenge to read a book published in the mid-20th C. I also had a secondary reason: to read a book I loved from my youth. I discovered this book at my public library shortly after it was published in 1959. I remember taking it out several times because I was so enthralled by Julia, Augustus’s daughter, and how she was forced into a series of marriages against her will and that in the one marriage with Agrippa, she did find love only to have him murdered by her evil stepmother, Livia (truly a remarkable but evil woman whose selfishness also helped me fulfill a prompt for another of my 2021 reading challenges: read a book with a selfish character). Julia eventually marries Tiberius but that turns out to be a horrible marriage. I looked for many years to find the book to re-read and eventually found an original publication since it appears the book had not been republished in English. Dored’s book is accurate historically and brings the characters of these early Romans to life. Her introduction is particularly relevant today when reading this book. Dored notes that as a young girl she admired Augustus greatly but after the end of WWII and the evils of fascism so recently behind (the book was published but 14 years after V-E day), she now viewed Augustus with jaundiced eyes and wrote the book to reflect the in part the evils of that philosophy. I enjoyed re-reading the book.

[Emma Bussolotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a shadow of a doubt, the most important part of this novel is the introduction. There, Dored explains the bias of modern and ancient scholars alike, and how all surviving records of the early Roman Empire are political propaganda or smearing. With this, she wrote a fictionalized account of Julia's life, with Augustus as a villain.

Truly a great read. Julia is a fantastic historical figure and there is so little about her. I'm glad Dored gave her a voice and portrayed her as a victim of circumstance.

Finally, this book should not be so hard to find. Thank you to the seminary library that let me check it out, LOL.

[Asia Palladino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is basically a julia x tiberius fanfiction and for this i loved it very much. but... it has many flaws and part of me was expecting something very different. i wish i could read it in italian too and that it was available for purchase, so that i could own it, because it would be worth it.

[Jolien Van der linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

367 pagina's vol onrechtvaardigheid. Mijn visie op Augustus is helemaal veranderd. Hoe hij zodanig beïnvloed wordt door Livia dat hij zowat bijna heel zijn eigen familie uitroeit, het is bijna ongelooflijk. Knap geschreven verhaal vanuit het standpunt van Augustus' dochter Julia.

[Niekoniecznie Papierowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miłość, polityka, historia i trup ścielący się gęsto.

[Marcus Raphael · Rating 5 out of 5]

i cried

[Chikkin Came'first · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this book years ago as a teenager, in Polish translation. Loved it.
Recently bought a copy of English edition on ebay (why was this never republished???) and is just as good.
Love the historical background, love the characters and writing is very good. Perfect blend of history and fiction, with a dose of romance without being lewd.

This will get reread many times.

[Chikkin Came'first · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this book years ago as a teenager, in Polish translation. Loved it.
Recently bought a copy of English edition on ebay (why was this never republished???) and is just as good.
Love the historical background, love the characters and writing is very good. Perfect blend of history and fiction, with a dose of romance without being lewd.

This will get reread many times.

[Madelen Bekkan-Varga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painful and beautiful, and in many ways very politically relevant.