Twelve Caesars

Rating:
Summary: Emperors, Ceasors, Imperators, O My!
Review: Conspiracy, suspicion, power, corruption, poison, conquests, marauders, murders and more murders. Such is the history of Roman Empire. Then again there are copious examples from every nation's history of such dastardly acts to grab power, from Egyptians pharos, to Bourbons, to Indian Moguls, to British royalty. Human nature has changed very little in two thousand years. Now instead of murdering opponents, we vilify them to such an extent that populace loathes and discards them in the garbage bin. Grant discounts Lord Acton's polemical quote "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Later Lord Acton had modified in saying that too much responsibility coupled with intense fear of life corrupts absolutely. It is very hard to imagine for us, normal souls, with two thousand years separation, what would we do if we were given absolute power over everybody and every thing. But would we resort to killing our own mother like Nero, or have sexual relationships with sisters, like Caligula. It is quite possible if Nixon were the Roman Empire and Watergate exploded on the stage, he would not have hesitated in having few senators, congressmen dispatched in due haste. If there are any good emperors, the vote should go to Augustus, starting from nothing, except, Julius Caesar's adopted nephew, to emerge as victor, after defeating all his rivals, one by one including Mark Anthony and his beloved Cleopatra. Vespatian can also be called a hero to come up the ranks from an ordinary family to start a dynasty and consolidate Rome after bitter civil war.

Aggripina the younger stands out among all the women ,( if one can discount Livia, Augustus wife in Graves incomparable "I, Claudius", where he portrays Livia as villai) who is married to aging Claudius, the fourth emperor. She runs the kingdom in his name and manages to bypass Claudius own son and places her son, Nero on the throne. How does Nero reward her? He lets her go out on a faulty boat to drown. What are sons for?

Few emperors, imperators were tyrants, megalomanias and sadists and most of them were murdered by conspiracy. Why any body wanted to be one is puzzling as no doubt they all knew the history so well. So Lord Acton is right. It is human nature to lust for Absolute power.

The Roman history is fascinating read of human nature, ambition, treachery, power and above all its glory.

Rating:
Summary: More Sober than Suetonius
Review: Grant's "The Twelve Caesars" is an excellent resource through which to learn about the first twelve Roman "emperors" - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. I say "emperors" in quotes because, as Grant so ably explains, the early Roman rulers, starting with Caesar Augustus, maintained every pretense that they were merely guardians of a republic. Even the word "imperator" was ambiguous. But as time went on, largely through the political genius of Augustus, the system evolved into de jure as well as a de facto imperial rule. Grant debunks as propaganda most of the salacious gossip surrounding the Caesars - which, to any of us familiar with the story of Tiberius and his "minnows," is a little disconcerting. But truth is vastly more interesting than fiction, and Grant delivers it in abundance.

Rating:
Summary: Out of Print?
Review: I don't think this book is out of print anymore because I recently bought the hardcover edition (new) at a big chain store. You can get it used as well. Anyway, I finally finished this thing. It took awhile to read because I found myself cross referencing a few of the chapters with Grant's recommended reading list and I ended up reading three other books while I was reading this one. Overall a very good volume and an easy one to read if you are a novice in classical history. Grant has always done a great job with somehow making a complex topic easy to read for the masses. He covers the first twelve emperors adequately, but to get more out of each one you really need to purchase a separate book on each of the emperors. I liked this book because it gave a good overview of each of them and I was intrigued enough about the lives of a few of them to go out and buy an additional book. If you want a good overview of the emperors without much detail then this is a great book, but it lacks depth into the time period for obvious reasons. You could not cover everything in a volume this size. It is a good book to get you started and to find out what aspect of ancient Rome you are interested in.

Rating:
Summary: Intense Roman History, though perhaps a bit dry at times
Review: I have to say that although Grant is clearly an expert in his field and often provides terrific insights, his Erudite and wordy style fails to provide the easiest of reads at times(especially for beginners). Nevertheless I think this is my favorite of all Grant's works that I have read so far(I've read 3). Part of that is because I love Roman History and perhaps another factor is that this book tends to stick more or less to a chronological narrative(preventing it from becoming too dry). My favorite part in this book is the conclusion. Grant's enlightened insight into the job of being an emperor is outstanding! Yeah, although the book as a whole I would give 4 stars that conclusion is definitely worth 5. So, to sum up although this book may not be the greatest page turner the insights are fabulous, and I would recommend it to people with a love of Roman History, but I would recommend the curious beginner try an easier read first before tackling a book like this.

Rating:
Summary: Not For The General Reader
Review: This book is trying to give an overview of each of the twelve Roman Caesars. Overall I was looking for more of an exciting telling of the story with some action, suspense, and maybe a little decadence thrown in for good measure. What I got was a textbook best suited for a college campus. The writing was so labored I wondered why the author chose this line of work, recipes have more punch and creativeness in the writing. I truly struggled to get to the half way point of the book before I gave up. Now let me add that this is not a main interest topic for me so maybe my review is not reflective of a person that is really into the Roman's.

Rating:
Summary: Not For The General Reader
Review: This book is trying to give an overview of each of the twelve Roman Caesars. Overall I was looking for more of an exciting telling of the story with some action, suspense, and maybe a little decadence thrown in for good measure. What I got was a textbook best suited for a college campus. The writing was so labored I wondered why the author chose this line of work, recipes have more punch and creativeness in the writing. I truly struggled to get to the half way point of the book before I gave up. Now let me add that this is not a main interest topic for me so maybe my review is not reflective of a person that is really into the Roman's.

Rating:
Summary: Poisoners Abound (Including the Author)
Review: With his many accounts of poisoners, Suetonius fails to disclose his own, highly political, objective of poisoning the well against the early Caesars. Much of his work is EXTREMELY amusing (Tiberius's proclivities are particularly titilating), and SOME of the more scandalous materials might be true in part. Caligula's excesses MIGHT have included the appointment of a horse to the Senate, but more as a misguided act of satire than from any strange belief in equine legislative ability. All in all, reading this is like reading Shakespeare's Richard III - while there is truth in the text, its overarching purpose is to please a later regime. Still, he puts the show business back into the biography business, and readers will be eternally grateful for this.

Rating:
Summary: Poisoners Abound (Including the Author)
Review: With his many accounts of poisoners, Suetonius fails to disclose his own, highly political, objective of poisoning the well against the early Caesars. Much of his work is EXTREMELY amusing (Tiberius's proclivities are particularly titilating), and SOME of the more scandalous materials might be true in part. Caligula's excesses MIGHT have included the appointment of a horse to the Senate, but more as a misguided act of satire than from any strange belief in equine legislative ability. All in all, reading this is like reading Shakespeare's Richard III - while there is truth in the text, its overarching purpose is to please a later regime. Still, he puts the show business back into the biography business, and readers will be eternally grateful for this.