Empire

Rome #2

by Steven Saylor

In the bestseller 'Roma', Steven Saylor told the story of the first 1,000 years of Rome by following the descendants of a single bloodline. Now, in 'Empire', Saylor charts the destinies of 5 more generations of the Pinarius family, from the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, to the glorious height of Rome's empire under Hadrian.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Italy, Mystery, Roman, Audiobook

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Steven Saylor is the author of the long running Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel.

Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Empire by Steven Saylor is right where I want to be, all the time.

I’ve heard good things about this author and now I know why. This story doesn’t mess around, in fact he races through time – he covers the period from Augustus to Hadrian (14CE to 141 CE) in only 700 pages. (note: Colleen McCullough uses over a 1000-pages to cover just 20 – 30 years when she writes about Sulla and Marius).

So, Empire is a bit different, not only in substance but in style, compared to other HF works I’ve encountered about Rome. Saylor really does rattle through a lot of stuff here.

There are plenty of sources for Saylor to draw on relating to this period. Reliable sources are obviously the biggest challenge when writing about antiquity, but the period of the Emperors is quite rich in various material. Historians, letters, poems and relics abound.

The author uses a patrician family of Augurs (religious officials) to tell this story. He starts with Lucius Pinarius and we proceed through the generations. This family go all the way back to the period before Rome was Rome. The Pinarii are also distantly related to the royal-bloodline – and are close enough to the Imperial Circle that we can follow the real stars of the show, that is – the Emperors, their families, hangers-on, Senators, Philosophers, Praetorians, Architects – the lot.

As the story is based in Rome, the characters often traverse through familiar places like the Roma Forum, the via Sacra, the Pantheon, the Colosseum (the Flavian Amphitheater), Hadrian’s mausoleum, Trajan’s Column (my favourite – I almost cried when I first saw this treasure), various other Fora and Arches, and so many other sites, too many to mention.

I really enjoyed learning about how those clever people built these structures and how they enjoyed or used them. Also, learning about sites that no longer exist, like the Colossus of Nero was fascinating. Oh, there are also fascinating maps at the beginning of the book of Rome and of the Empire.

Because of the amount of information packed into this effort, and the author’s obvious desire to mention everything noteworthy (things we may already know from our own learning) he contrives situations to make situations happen. Initially I found this a little off-putting and a tad obvious, but once I knew what the author was up to, I was belted in for the ride and loved it. If a reader is vaguely familiar with some of the quotes or happenings of these times, you can see how the author is creating the scene to make it happen – I still enjoyed that. Maybe a bit like someone who has watched Star Wars for the upteenth time, waiting with anticipation for a scene they know is just about to come about, and they can mouth the words. Magic!

I highly recommend this book, this series, and this author to anybody who is interested in Ancient Rome. It’s particularly good for the uninitiated, because it touches on so many significant characters – and if one of them takes your fancy you can focus on them for further reading.

5 Stars

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2010, and its the 2nd volume of the wonderful "Rome" series.

This book is set from the begin of Augustus's reign as Emperor towards the year AD 141.

In this book we follow again the destinies of the now aristocratic Pinarius family and the common Pinarii during the Reign of Emperor Augustus until the height of the Roman Empire with Trajan and Hadrian.

Once again there will be more highlights and drama within Rome, with the likes of the opening games of the Colosseum, the persecution of the Christians and the Great Fire.

Choices have to be made by the Pinarii in a Rome that is full with great achievements, political machinations and assassinations, heroes and villains, great Emperors and mad ones, but in the end the must somehow seem to survive and hopefully thrive in their own epic Roman world.

What is to follow is an epic tale about Rome as an Empire hungry for recognition and seeking expansion in every direction, and all this is brought to us in a most engaging fashion by the author.

Highly recommended, for this is a superb sequel to Roma, and that's why I like to call this next episode: "A Fabulous Empire!"

[Mr. Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empire is the follow up to Roma and I'm sorry to say that it left me a bit disappointed. In his comments at the end of the book the author confesses his own struggles in writing the book. Once the Republic ended and Empire began the story of Rome largely becomes the story of the Emperors - their failings, their successes, their digressions and so on.

I'm not so sure that I agree with that assessment. I think the author left an awful lot of potential untouched. For example, what about the emergence of the mystery religions? True, one of the Pinarii is an early convert to Christianity, but that thread is more or less terminated. In Empire, the Pinarii remain in the upper reaches of the Patrician families so their story is related to the Emperors, but what if the Christian branch of the family had survived? I think it would have been worth following a disreputable bunch of underground religious fanatics who were slowly undermining the foundations of the Empire. To my great surprise the author didn't touch it. To be frank, I had expected the story to focus much more on this transition.

A second failure on the part of the author is the structure of the book itself. What made Roma work is that it was really a compilation of short stories. Some were excellent and some were okay. Their length and pacing allowed the reader to zoom through a thousand years of Roman history at a good clip. Empire by contrast seemed to be only three or four very long stories meshed together. The result was that the whole work became tedious at time. I wonder if this was because the historical record for this period is pretty well developed. It left less room for the author for improvisation. (Of course, that is why it might have been nice to see a story about the underground Christian fanatics).

Long story short, I enjoyed the book from the historical perspective on the period and the Empire. In terms of the stories not so much. I was somewhat disappointed. The book was okay. III stars out of V.

[Jennie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Empire without knowing the existence of its predecessor, Roma. Many reviewers bemoan the inaccuracy of some of the events, but I found it was the perfect balance of historical facts and fictional anecdotes. The storytelling captures the essence of the Roman empire as the reader follow the heirloom fascinum bracelet of a prominent patrician family as it is passed down from father to son. We see their lives as augurs, senators, patricians glisten under the rays of privilege, but once in awhile, like a moth flying too close too the sun, catch the fire of the Cesar’s wrath and suffer the consequence that nearly cost them their lives. Through their eyes, we see the rise of fall of rulers and the changes they bring about during their reign.

There are no stories that I did not enjoy. The author picked the most defining event that marked each character’s life and the reader is lead from one jaw-dropping anecdote to another. The most memorable stories for me are the ones where the main characters are thrown into the coliseum, one because a brother is a Christian and became the muse of a theatrical emperor, and the other because of a teacher who’s accused of being a magician and had to fight off a lion. Other moments are notable as well, like the debate of the punishment and fate of 400 hundred slaves when their master has been murder by one of their own; or the slave who was the source of his master’s obsession, got dragged back in chains when he tried to leave, was sold off as a gladiator and then save by his former master at the last moment, and THEN became an equestrian (a class ranking below senators); or the infatuation of a vestal virgin that didn’t end up so well.

The author really didn’t paint the people of Roma in a good light. If anything, the stories read like a tabloid magazine, with scandals competing each other on shock value, one topped by the next. No, no, it’s a compliment to the author, because this 600 plus pages practically read themselves. I almost gave up in the beginning where it started with the tradition of a young boy following his father’s footstep to become an augur. There were too many mystical aspects and too much explanation of tradition. But I’m so glad I got through that part. The reverence of omens and auspices don’t go away, but became comforting, familiar theme that permeates throughout the story.

The completion of this chronicle required no small amount of research, and it’s hard to fathom the amount of work the author must have put into this. I highly recommend this to anyone who might enjoy ancient history, loves outrageous stories, or just anyone who’s in need of a primer on Roman emperors and their most infamous stories.

If there could be one recommendation to the author, it’s that I would love to see something like this but told from the views of slaves. This book follows each generation of a prominent family and the emperor of his time, replete with wealth and influence. It would be interesting to read about the experience of those at the bottom of society as well, such as a domestic slave, a gladiator, or even a skilled slave practicing a trade. There were brief mentions of their lives but mostly overshadowing by that of their master’s. Each time I was disappointed that the author did not elaborate on their story and wished there would be more.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the book “Roma,” which covers 1,000 years, this history of Rome covers a little over a century from the years A.D. 14 to A.D. 141. Saylor explores the reign of 16 emperors from Augustus to the infamous Nero (who actually didn’t fiddle while Rome burned) to Hadrian whose wall built across northern England still partially exists. He describes them in all their grandeur, benevolence, combative skills, religious beliefs, brutality, quirkiness, perverse sexual proclivities and maliciousness. The Pinarii family who are first introduced in Saylor’s earlier book and are holders of the amulet fascinum, manage to survive to continue the story in this highly readable account of how the republic of Rome was built and how it expanded.

I liked “Empire” on a lot of levels, both as ancient history and as a story that kept me interested from beginning to end. As with “Roma,” I found myself going to the computer to check the accuracy of Saylor’s literary inventions many times. This was especially true of the character Apollonius of Tyana, a philosopher, who was also sort of the Houdini of his day—it was one of my favorite chapters and was based on a real person.

Again, I thank Goodreads’ First Reads program for introducing me to this author. It was a lengthy read, but definitely a worthwhile one.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was Empire as good as Roma? No. But it was still addictive in the extreme, and I inhaled it very quickly. In some ways, Empire was a little better than Roma in that the time span was much shorter, and there were only four generations covered, one following the other. Thus, each generation was like a small novel in and of itself. I found most of the major characters to be sympathetic, with the possible exception of Titus Pinarius (no spoilers here, but what a creep!). I really enjoyed the presence of Claudius, for whom I have a soft spot after reading the Robert Graves novels. The novel's major strength, however, as in Roma, was the city of Rome itself. Saylor really knows his stuff, and as a result, Rome springs vividly to life as a fully realized, yet ever-changing character in its own right. I loved reading about the construction of the Pantheon, which is probably my favorite building in the world. I also enjoyed all the crazy depictions of the Roman emperors, but also appreciated how Saylor invoked the absolute terror living under such regimes could instill in their subjects. My only real complaint is something others have pointed out - there are quite a lot of info-dumps, and they are done a bit awkwardly - often as dialogue which just doesn't sound natural. However, for me that's a small complaint in an otherwise completely absorbing, fascinating novel.

[caffeinated reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly massive story spanning five generations of the Pinarii (Lucius the Lightning Reader, Titus and Kaeso the twins, Lucius the Seeker, Marcus the Sculptor, and Lucius, comrade of Marcus Aurelius) amidst the backdrop of Imperial Rome (from the Julio-Claudian dynasty to the Year of the Four Emperors, the Flavian Dynasty and finally to the end of the reign of Hadrian of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty) and the mysterious fascinus which had made its way from one Pinarius family member to the next.

(I've just finished re-reading this, almost 4 years after the first time. I'm thinking this is even better than when I first read it! I'm more spellbound and astounded at how Steven Saylor seamlessly weaved the generations of Pinarii into the story of Imperial Rome.)

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Saylor’s New York Times bestseller, Empire, sequel to Roma, did not disappoint!

His multi-generational saga continues with the fictional Pinarius family during the reigns of Rome’s emperors. It continues from the end of Augustus’ reign and ends 130 years later with Hadrian’s reign. The family continues to be united through the adorning of the golden talisman handed down from a time before the founding of Rome and this time, each chapter covers a different generation, for a total of five generations. Readers will be astounded at the era of wealth and corruption as Saylor highlights the absurdities of Nero and Caligula’s reign, the weird fascinations of Claudius and the paranoia of Domitian.

The little I knew about Nero lead me to suspect that Saylor would write his reign as the most memorable. I wasn’t disappointed. Nero is a difficult man to understand; who in their right mind would have their mother assassinated, kick their pregnant wife to death and sing while the city of Rome burned to the ground? It’s one thing to read in history books about the great fire of Rome, but it’s quite another to read about it in a historical fiction book. I could almost feel the heat and smell the smoke as Saylor wrote about the progression over the 6 days. I don’t think I’ll forget the nefarious display of cruelty, so brutally described, as Saylor brings to life Nero’s persecution and mass execution of Christians. When looking for a scapegoat to blame for the fire, Nero picked the Christians.

I think the best written passage was the inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre. Saylor was able to immerse me right in the crowd waiting to get into the Colosseum, then entering through the vomitorium as the awnings were pulled to shade me from the sun, and then informing me of the etiquette of the games. All the while, I felt my head move as he motioned to me about the architectural engineering, pointing out everything that made the building a possible feat.

I was well aware of the debauchery and perversions within the empire and was able to skip a few pages without losing any historical significance.

With so much of this time period recorded, Saylor is able to rely on actual accounts and with his panache for meticulous research, masterfully weaves history, legend and archaeological discoveries together into a fascinating portal to the ancient world.

Stuffed with history, adventure and excitement, Empire is a brilliant way to enter the brutal world of ancient Rome.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The follow up to his novel Roma.

Empire covers the period from Augustus to Antonius Pius. The rise and fall of the fortunes of the Pinarii family during this period is interesting.

I found this one slightly less interesting that the first, mostly, I think, because the personalities of Rome's emperors tended to overwhelm those of the various Pinarii.

A good, solid, read.

Highly recommended.

[John Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am I tired of Ancient Rome stories yet? Am I tired of breathing? No. No, I am not. This was a fun read with the main characters rubbing elbows with the most powerful people in history. A lot of fun. I recommend.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to Roma and one my top expected non-sff novels of 2010 was even better than i expected. I liked Roma (A+) but its vignette like nature needed to cover 1000 years of history made it read like a collection of related stories than a novel.

Empire focuses on a much shorter period - about 125 years and covers four main characters, the male line of the ancient Pinarius family and ends on a note promising more

The heart of the novel and the best parts are the middle two, with the 3rd one Lucius: the Seeker covering the Flavian dynasty and the start of the Antonines (69-100) just awesome in both cast of characters and action.
The portrait of Domitian as a precursor of Stalin is chilling, but Lucius the main hero steals the show and is one of the best characters in all fiction I've read this year.

His father Titus the augur who was sort of friend to both Claudius - whom he ultimately betrays - and Nero to whom he stays loyal to the bitter end - is the second best character of the book and reminded me a bit of the Roman of Mika Waltari, though in a more serious rather than picaresque mode.

The first and last parts are dominated more by the Emperors - Augustus and Hadrian and by historical characters - young Claudius and Antinous and Appolodorus respectively and the Pinarii here - Lucius the augur and Marcus the sculptor - play important roles but they are less well developed and more a vehicle to carry the story of Rome from its Imperial beginnings to its Imperial height that is presaged so well and about i hope we will see another Pinarii novel.

Extraordinary detail and world building and this novel is a clear work of love for the author and the single best novel he has written; A++ and a top novel of mine for 2010

[Layal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages now, and I have been avoiding it, partially because of its size and partially because I thought it would read more like a fact book. However, I was as wrong as ever, I have had an inkling to read it for a while now and I finally picked it up. I sped through this novel it was so captivating and I was completely engrossed in the story, I felt like I was learning more about ancient Rome, but not in the way of facts. Also, the book is sectioned into four to five generations of the Pinarii family, this gives us different perspectives, and because of the books progressive characteristic you don't feel completely lost because you know a lot of the history of the family.

Anyway, fantastic book, definitely worth my time, and to be frankly honest, since it's such a page turner, you tend to forget about the size of the book and find yourself suddenly halfway through. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history or historical fiction, and let me tell that you will not be disappointed.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel to Roma, "Empire" continues the saga of a bloodline, the family called gens Pinaria, and the golden fascinum amulet they bear that predates the founding of Roma itself. "Roma" ended with Julius Caesar, and this book picks up through the principate of Augustus and Tiberius, through the reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, the unrest of the Year of Four Emperors and the establishment of the Flavians (Vespasian, Titus, and the wicked Domitian), then through the beginnings of the Five Good emperors - Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian. A member of the family was exiled to Alexandria under Tiberius and his sons returned under Caligula, one became a Christian and was eventually executed under Nero, later a member of the family became a disciple of Apollonius of Tyana, and a scion of the family helped to design Trajan's Column. Quite a sweeping tale! Highly recommended, but you should definitely read "Roma" first!

[Mary Pimbblet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two sections of this were really strong, it didn't add a lot to other histories of the same period, but was an interesting read anyway.
The plot seems to fall apart in the final section of the novel, the main character is born and brought up as a slave, but this seems to be completely ignored. A lot is made of his mysterious dream figure, but this isn't developed on at all. He seems completely passive in his own life, which after the previous characters spoilt the effect of the overall novel for me.

[Penny Cipolone · Rating 5 out of 5]

After you have read "Roma", take a deep breath and read "Empire". Excellent as well. Saylor extends his conceit of one patrician family passing on a small gold "fascinum" amulet from generation to generation, from pre-Romulus and Remus days to the death of Hadrian. Still reminds me a great deal of Michner. Read this one much faster. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Highly recommended.

[Ben Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent writing with some incredible moments of tension make Saylor’s second Roma novel a worthwhile 4 stars. In the author’s notes he says that living in Imperial Rome would have been much like living in Soviet Russia, and he nails the paranoid atmosphere throughout the book. While the exposition is occasionally hamfisted, it doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the book overall.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a massive undertaking Stenen Saylor took to create this sweeping history of the republic of Ancient Rome. From Emperor Agustus through to Emperor Hadrian, as experienced through the many generations of the fictional Penarious family, this epic work is breathtaking in scope and detail. Highly readable, highly recommended.

[Zulfiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was less impressed with the sequel. Even though we were given more time to spend with characters as the actual time slowed down, and short chapters did not cover hundreds of years ... it was still somewhat of a disappointment. Some episodes were very emotionally powerful, and some were engaging, but with it all created a feeling of the newsreel rather than actual characters that one would care about

I also listened to the book during my shortish commute to work through the heavy traffic, and it might have affected my perception as during the longer commutes, the same book was perceived better.

I will possibly finish the series as I have already read two out of three books, but I might have to listen to it at home during my usual chores to give the final novel a fair chance

[Faith Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an early review copy of this book through Library Thing. This is a condensed version of a review posted on my blog.

Empire continues the story of the Pinarius family chronicled in Steven Saylor's earlier novel Roma which followed the aristocratic family from the founding of Rome through the Republican years. Empire picks up at the end of Augustus' reign and concludes at the end of Hadrian's, covering about 130 years and four generations of Pinarii. Saylor sets himself a Herculean task to cover the major events and people of the times in an entertaining and accessible way using a formula perfected by James A. Michner in his historical epics. He mostly succeeds.

Each "chapter" of the book covers a different Pinarii generation and varies in the quality of the story telling and character development. The first chapter is the briefest at 68 pages and seems to exist solely for the purpose of filling in a bit of Roman back story before Lucius, the main character and his family are banished to Alexandria, Egypt. Things pick up after that. The remaining three chapters are much longer and Saylor does a better job of developing the characters, both his fictional and historic ones.

The most interesting relationship is that of Titus (in the second generation) with Nero. My least favorite Pinarius is Lucius (of the third generation) who spends his life depressed; doing nothing but staying out of sight of the various emperors who reign during his long life—primarily the lesser known Flavians, Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. He is Saylor's vehicle for introducing these fascinating emperors and meeting some of Rome's famous philosophers and writers, but has almost no substance of his own.

Where he falls short on character development, Saylor excels with the historical details. The pitfalls and snares of various emperors and their courts are rendered in chilling detail. Not only the details of politics and religion; but fascinating facts on food, clothes, architecture, and fire control are deftly slipped into the story.His description of what it was like to be in the audience of the Flavian Amphitheater (a.k.a. the Roman Coliseum) was one of the best I've ever read. Ditto the building scenes in the fourth chapter as Marcus Pinarius helps build Trajan's Column and renovate the Pantheon. Saylor obviously did his homework and it shows. Except when he is describing something, Saylor's writing is workmanlike.

In summary, I found Empire a mixed bag; lots of credit for covering such an epic time period with accuracy and interesting detail, points off for uneven character and story development, and an average grade for writing craft. I'd recommend this book to people who want to get an overview of the time period in an interesting way. Folks who are already steeped in the events and historic characters might find the book frustratingly shallow. I'm not faulting Saylor, so much as the format. Multi-generational epics are notoriously hard to write with any depth. Kudos to Steven Saylor for his effort.

[Beth Tognetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Steven Saylor's "Sub Rosa" series with Gordianus so much that I read the first of this new series, "Roma" as soon as it came out. Was disappointed--too much history, not enough characterization for me. I swore I'd never read another of his books. When I recently ran across this second book in the series, enough time had passed that I forgot my earlier disappointment and grabbed it up. Read all 600 pages and was once again, disappointed. I think in trying to be historically accurate to the period--from the end of Augustus's reign to the reign of Hadrian--once again, Saylor sacrificed characterization. Yes, he threaded history with a continuing story of the Pinarius family, but this turned out to be more of a genealogy, rather than the story of each family members' growth and development during very difficult and chaotic times. Plus, descriptions of the atrocities committed by some emperors was more graphic and disturbing than any I had read before--and I've read a lot of books on the period. The book had a very claustrophobic feel, no doubt due to the power over life and death these emperors had over not just the aristocracy and the senate, but the populace at large. Not for the faint of heart, and not for those who value character development over history.

[Rick Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading Steven Saylor's excellent Gordianus, the Finder, series for years and was interested in how well he could transfer his excellent writing to an epic novel. He proved that he could do this very well in the fascinating "Roma" a few years ago, and I was looking forward to the next chapter in this saga of the Pinarius clan. WIth "Empire" Saylor has really hit his stride. I really enjoyed reading this and hope that he will continue this saga through the next series of centuries to cover the entire span of Roman Society. As with all great historical fiction, "Empire" expands the factual into the probable and beyond, giving history a life that I truly love. Once again excellent job, Mr. Saylor, but please keep giving us Gordianus, in your spare time. I visited Rome for the first time this year with my daughter and was amazed at how comfortable I felt moving around the city and envisioning it in different periods. After reading "Roma" and "Empire", I can't wait to return.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saylor does his research well and given the dozen or so novels he has written about the Roman republic and empire, the expectations are high. In the main, he can meet them with an "epic" plot concerning 4 generations of a significant Roman family tracing their triumphs and tragedies. The family's position is such that he can bring in familiar Romans for moment or a long while as he sees fit. I have particularly liked his almost anthropological detail of daily Roman life.

Saylor can work it around his plot without slowing things down too much. This should be a happy read for those who are interested in this era (the early Empire) and those who just like their history mixed with an interesting group of fictional characters.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, second in the set, moves into the age of the Emperors. It is loosely based on Suetonius and Tacitus. The family of the Potitii is apparently extinct but its bloodline survives in the Pinarii, who now pass the fascinum from generation to generation. The stories are much more sharply drawn and I liked this book better than the first. This suggests that Saylor is far more highly reliant on his source material than would seem to be apparent. Suetonius is certainly a more lively read than Livy. With that said, this is another great read, giving great 'Rome'. Saylor personalizes emperors like Domitian, Titus, Trajan and Hadrian who dont have the well-fictionalized personalities of the Claudians and he does it very well.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the Roma series by Saylor that I've read. It wasn't bad, although I prefer my fiction to have a story to tell rather than simply a fictional accounting of historical events. The writing is solid and the characters distinctive. I learned more about Rome's history, particularly the sequence of emperors and how awfully things went downhill in such a hurry.

The novel was engaging enough and kept my attention, but there wasn't any particular character I cared about. Some of the Emperors were much more interesting than they were given time; Claudius, for instance was just about skipped over despite a fairly long reign in what seemed to be a hurry to get to Nero. Not a bad book but not the best I've read set in the time period, either.

[Lance McMurchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It is better than the first book, Roma. Despite the long period of time the book covers, it still has a flow to it. It also includes many of the historians of the time. The highlights of the book, are the lowlights of the Roman Empire during the Empire period (0-150 AD); this being Nero, Caligula and Domitian. Saylor is able to make their madness and atrocities come alive. The unfortunate thing about the book is that it had to come to an end. And for a book that has near 700 pages, for me, is quite an achievement. I was able to learn so much, about one of the most significant period of classical history.

Looking forward to the next instalment, to see how it ends.

[Susanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a fundamental rule of good story-telling: show, don't tell. Unfortunately Steven Saylor decided to ignore it and make the novel part history book, part abstract, and completely boring. There are also some obvious mistakes to be found in it. Vestal virgins did not, for instance, have short hair but elaborate hair-styles that have been very well researched. And I don't agree with Saylor's
opinion that a novel set in imperial Rome is innately more boring than one set in republican times because the emperors overshadow everything - after all the lives of ordinary citizens were also affected by the politics of those emperors.

[Dennis Steussy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy reading about history of early Rome, I would recommend both Roma and Empire. I like the way Saylor introduces you to the history of Roma through the fictional characters he creates and how he takes the family through all the changes from the beginning of Rome through the times of Emperor Hadrian. These two books gives you a good overview of the changes early Rome had from its humble beginning through its early emperors.

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best I can say for this book is that it isn't as bad as the first book in the series. It's much better written, but he still writes his main characters as completely innocent, naive, wide-eyed beings who are easily taken advantage of because they're so gullible. I won't be reading anything else Steven Saylor has ever written.

[Tammie Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as Roma. I was looking forward to this book but found it much too long with long stretches of the book that just felt pointless.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was fascinating, just like the first one. Roman history intrigues me and I love learning how that history played out. The first book was B.C., so Empire was A.D. You started with Augustus (Cesar Augustus) and they talk about crucifixion and how that practice came about. How power and greed makes any man paranoid and not able to trust anyone. Emperor Nero also comes into the picture and most know he was famous for the torture of Christians during that time. This part of history intrigued me the most. So a majority of his story is about setting up a new amphitheater for the games. And it gets graphic in some spots about how people were tortured and murdered. It’s crazy to think this is how people handled differences of opinion or criminals. You learn about 7 to 8 emperors throughput this book and what it took for each on to gain power and maintain it. The shady, fearful, majestic gestures they took throughout the ages to be remembered by the people who lived in the greatest city in the center of the world.

All through these books, you are following the family of Pinarii. They trials they go through and how they constantly have to stay on their toes so they don’t lose their heads. It must be exhausting. You want to be near the emperors but not too close cause it can turn in a second. Of course all through these reigns and family dramas are relationships that go awry or get scandalous, whether with women or men. Rome loved their youth. So sad of what these slaves went through to survive.

The imagery of how Rome was described throughout both books was wonderful. I felt like I was look at these statues of the gods and looking at the temples as they were being built. I want to go and see the history I have read about. Cause as we know it is still beautiful there. I liked these books and even though people would say it’s too wordy or long, I thought it was entertaining and kept me very interested. But I love history, so....