Palatine: An Alternative History of the Caesars

by Peter Stothard

A unique and entertaining history of the Roman Empire's first dynasty

Founded by the emperor Augustus, the Julio-Claudians were ancient Rome's first imperial dynasty. They wielded power ruthlessly but each succession brought with it a crisis and the ever-present threat of civil war until the ruling household collapsed in 69 CE when four rivals violently contended for the throne. Between the reigns of Augustus and "the year of four emperors," despite an invasion of Britain and Jewish unrest in the time of Christ, this was a period of peace more than war.

The history of the Julio-Claudians has been told many times but Palatine presents a view of the early Roman empire that its own historians never wanted us to see. Set inside the houses of the Palatine hill, high on the edge of the ancient Forum, it is a book about two men in particular, a father and son. The father, Lucius Vitellius (c10 BC-AD 51) was one of those quiet flatterers recognizable in many eras, who lived and died in imperial service, ever more powerful as he lived through the successive reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, and Nero. The son, Aulus Vitellius (AD 12-69), became briefly an emperor of the Roman world himself, who, against tough competition from both predecessors and successors, set his own standard for gluttony, brutal indolence, and dramatic death. Conveyed in vivid, novelistic prose, Palatine narrates one of the most important half centuries in the history of Europe.
Read less

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classics, Ancient History, Italy

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2023

Reviews

[Fred Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not news that Augustus and his successors essentially ran the Roman empire as an extension of their own household. The domus Caesaris, as Stothard calls it, that is the clients, freedmen, and slaves of Caesar, served as the imperial bureaucracy. What is new about Stothard's account is presenting the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from the perspective of the imperial bureaucrats. He focuses especially on the Vitellii, from Publius the elder, an administrator (procurator) under Augustus through his ill-fated grandson, who briefly became emperor in AD 69 through no fault of his own. Food and gluttony, and their relation to power and spectacle, are a leit-motiv, sometimes interesting, sometimes a distraction from other things of more interest.

Stothard has an engaging style and a penchant for pointed observations. He knows the sources and secondary literature well. Some GR reviewers believe he pushed too far beyond what can be known, but I found little that can't be found in the ancient sources or readily extrapolated from them.
Whether or not the sources are always reliable is another matter. The best we can reconstruct is what people at the time believed happened.

[Jack Schutter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This latest history of Rome by Peter Stothard… it’s NOT GOOD.

Palatine strikes out to be a history of the Julio-Claudian line of the Caesars told through the lens of the Vitellii family, a group of semi-obscure nobles who would eventually have one become emperor Vitellius during the Year of the Four Emperors. But trying to take a view that we haven’t had before might just reveal that the view wasn’t worth taking in.

Part straightforward history, part court intrigue, part extended metaphor on sex and feasting, Stothard’s premise ultimately relies on the idea that the Vitellii family are interesting enough to look at their actions and interactions leading up to the Year of the Four Emperors, but unfortunately they aren’t that intriguing. The author alludes to this early on in the book talking about the habits of some of the Vitellii nothing that they weren’t accomplished or didn’t have much noteworthy written about them. The thing about Roman history is that it’s been written about since Ancient Rome. Late Republic writers wrote about the Early Republic, so unfortunately there can be a feeling of need to find a new angle to make a history worthwhile—but the mine has been plundered over the ages, and the scraps perhaps ought to stay there.

The metaphors on how sex and feasting and appetite are congruous with ruling are kind of interesting but broke up the narrative too often and for too long. Perhaps if it had been a separate chapter it would be tolerable or even interesting, but the author would return to the idea constantly. It felt like there were “interesting facts” that must be thrown in regardless of what was happening with the narrative.

Overall it was too scattered and not interesting enough. The writer is clearly quite talented at making history come alive, but his prose couldn’t help a poor premise.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book meanders around far too much, and the text is a slog to get through - and, for a non-fiction book, takes a few too many liberties with what the author could have known, especially regarding feelings and motives, the thesis was a fascinating idea - looking at the Year of Four Emperors through the lens of what the contenders were doing throughout the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and how big a role food took on a political level.

Stothard makes a great point that tales of emperor being a glutton can be just as much a political weapon - and very likely untrue or overblown - as much as sex has been used as a weapon against empresses.

I also liked seeing the backstories of Otho, Galba and, most importantly, Vitellius, brought to the forefront against the backdrop of the rise and fall of the first house of Ceaser, making the obvious but brilliant point that these men didn't spring out of nowhere after Nero died.

The book could have used a lot of tightening up, but still, some interesting points where made.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this and expect to re-read within a couple years.

We are walked through the 5 successors of Caesar's empire and the year of the four emperors with a focus not just on the imperial family but also those other lesser-known families who kept the cogs on the empire turning.

The author has a deep knowledge of the period which is sprinkled throughout.

[Sean Kingsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the text to be very informative and a decent enough introduction to the reigns of Tiberius through to Aulus. However I had quite a lot of issues with this book, mainly in the writing style and many offhand references made.

Constantly I was rather confused as to how much Stothard expected me to know about the history of Rome as he was making references to things that seemed very important without explaining them or overexplaining things that didn't seem important, for thematic reasons - for instance I'm unsure why Grattius was given as much time as he was considering that all that seemed to connect him was the fact that Aulus was found in a doghouse and he was momentarily contrasted with Phaedrus.

I'm happy that I have read this book and have gained much from it, but I'm unhappy with the amount of time I spent with it, considering the prose was either meandering and drawing my focus away or would suddenly jump forward to reveal events, again for stylistic reasons.

[Edoardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing style can be a bit convoluted, but the ideas are fascinating. At least it's not just an endless cycle of plot-incest-stab, there's an attempt at understanding the court and how removed it is from the rest of the Empire.

Also, shut up Elodia Oxford-Warwick-Leamington-Millybridge, all you've ever done is watch the video (One Clavdivs) and then bellow: "I was drunk the whole time, but I WAS THERE!!!!!"

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this thinking it would be a fun, informative, history read. Unfortunately, it is more of a breathless, hard-to-follow, adventure novel. I have put it aside for now.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome and the year of 3 emperors AD69 but told more from the point of view of one family of courtiers - the Vitelli.

[Joshua Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

[Pirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tacitus, Suetonius...Peter Stothard for the modern age.
As good as his Crassus and the Last Assassin a delightfully offbeat way of telling the tale of very unappealing octet of Roman Emperors (Augustus through to Vitellius -- Vespasian enters at the end but little of him) and how most of them if not all met poisonous/violent ends even Augustus might well have been poisoned by figs....entertaining from start to finish the reader is treated to their eating habits -- stuffed dormice anyone...giraffe...peacock (there were certainly plenty of puffed up ones lying on the couches -- to the flattery (the good and the bad.
Lucius, Vitellius's father, is a past master. The batty Caligula says "I am talking to the Moon.. (erm as one does)...can you see her with me too?" to which Lucius replies 'he could not see the emperor with the Moon because "gods were visible only to other gods."...Chapeau sir.
A cast of brutes to be honest...Augustus is none too satisfied with selecting his stepson Tiberius as his successor: "O unfortunate Roman people to be chewed by such slow jaws." Tiberius spends most of his reign on the delightful island of Capri (he had a modest 12 villas built there and one can trudge uphill to the Villa Jovisi to see the ruins...and espy the drop from where many of his victims were thrown to their deaths). Whether that death was more palatable than the forced exile and starvation of Julia and Agrippina senior is a question I hope never to have to answer.
Tiberius's favourite food was little cucumber ...for as Stothard says: 'Stuffed marrows signalled luxury, pumpkins and empty head and obsession with sex.' Tiberius might as well have been a pumpkin because he was a sexual pervert....and fortunately for those who had a more sceptical view of their far from perfect rulers there was Phaedrus and his equivalent of Aesop's Fables. Mystery surrounded his background -- probably just as well for his life insurance -- 'As a writer of his age he was a realist. He focused on what went on.' There was much for him to focus on...
A masterful account recounted with vim, cannot wait for his next tome.

[Jeff Slipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a great entertaining read on the less characters or Rome who occasionally cracked to be the Emperor.

Lots of fun bits on keeping a low profile with difficult Emperors.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Billed as a behind the scenes look at the politicking in imperial Rome, the book feels more gossipy and unfocused than something like a GAME CHANGE for ancient times. I think there’s a good book in here for people with deep knowledge of the empire and its post-Caesar machinations, but without that going in it felt a bit listless.