Rating: 
Summary: more fiction than fact
Review: Iggulden manages to totally rewrite history for no apparent reason. This book is entertaining if you don't care to know anything about actual Roman history. Please buy The First Man in Rome before you ever think about picking up this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Current British Best Seller, Soon To Be NYT Best Seller
Review: This excellent fiction of two famous future Roman Generals tells a tale of growing up and learning to be a Roman soldier. Full of historically based figures and facts, Conn does a great job of keeping this novel of known ancient characters an exciting page turner. If you like the history of Rome and warrior action, this is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Life in Republican Rome
Review: The historical note at the end of The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden offers the reader a rationale for his approach to writing the novel. According to Iggulden, the central theme of the book is to flesh out the scanty historical information on the earliest years of the life of Gaius Julius Caesar and to give him "... the sort of childhood that a young boy from a minor Roman family could have had". His synthesis of Caesar's early years captures the essence of what he imagines Caesar's formative years to have been, placing the imagined events of those years seamlessly in the context of the cultural and social fabric of life in the Roman Republic, especially among its leaders. In part, the authenticity of the events he depicts as occurring in the life of young Caesar can be measured against the criterion of presuming he must have acquired certain skills in his childhood, skills he was known to possess as a mature adult. If we liken The Gates of Rome to a multi-act play, fewer than a two dozen men and women appear on stage as principal characters who affect Caesar's life in significant ways. Other lesser characters appear, some of whose names are well known to us, speak their lines and then disappear from the scene. Some of these are historical, others have been created by Iggulden. In the background, looming just off stage and occasionally on its fringes, are the pulsing mass of nameless men and women who live in Rome. Not all of them are Roman citizens, some are free and many are slaves. Whoever they are, they are simply bit players and if Iggulden's portrayal of life in Republican Rome is at all close to the mark, they could be cut down anonymously in a crowd simply because they are in the way of a general with a legion of men loyal to him. Life tended to be cheap in Caesar's world. Other than Caesar, the primary principal character in The Gates of Rome is Marcus, the son of a close friend of Caesar's father, who is introduced as simply Marcus on the first page, when the boys are about six, and whose proper name we are told on the last page is Marcus Brutus, yes, the "Et tu, Brutus?!" Then there is Renius, a virtual legend among Rome's legionaries and gladiators, who is employed by Caesar's father to teach and train ten-year-old Gaius and Marcus to become soldiers in the Roman army and leaders in the larger Roman community. The implacable cruelty of Renius's training methods cannot even be called remarkable in the context of the cultural milieu in Republican Rome. Vespasian's Colosseum would not be built until almost a century later, but a highlight of Roman life under the Republic were bloody spectacles involving fights between gladiators, some to the death, and battles between lions and men, both freemen and slaves. Marius, Caesar's uncle and a political power in Rome, takes Caesar and Marcus under his wing when Renius finishes with them. Initially, they stay together but soon, just before Marius triumphant march into Rome, Caesar and Marcus go their separate ways. Women do not appear to have had significant influence in Caesar's early life. Those mentioned in The Gates of Rome include Aurelius, his mother, Alexandria, a slave, and Cinna's daughter, Cornelia whom he marries. None of them none of them appear to have been a major influence in his life. In The Gates of Rome, Iggulden has woven an interesting and colorful tapestry in which the glowing threads representing Gaius Caesar and Marcus Brutus as youths and young men standout in a matrix of less colorful threads representing the relatively few individuals that influenced their early lives in significant ways. Yet, the most memorable characteristic of the tapestry is the vibrant kaleidoscope of threads in which those representing the lives of the two young men and their family and friends are embedded. These threads represent the dichotomy of the remarkable achievements of a republican form of government based on law, Roman law, and the cruelty and inequities inherent in a slave-based cultural and economic system. In a sense, we are left with the impression that, by their towering, ill-defined and pervasive presence, these threads had greater effect in shaping the lives of Caesar and Marcus than the clearly defined threads representing the individuals highlighted in The Gates of Rome.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiction: Historical?
Review: As a history enthusiast, both of true historical text and historical fiction, I couldn't resist the subject matter of this novel. Unfortunately, it is wrought with a glaring list of historical innaccuracies. If the author researched any aspect of Roman history, he certainly didn't include the results in this novel. The idea presented within, of a young Gaius Julius Caesar, a patrician Roman, going to Rome with no concept of Roman law, government or its political system is implausible and ridiculous. If you enjoy a Huck Finn style story of two boys growing adventures then read this book and you might like it. If you are interested in historical fiction set in the Roman Republic/Empire, then read Colleen McCullough's "First Man in Rome" series.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Read
Review: I found this book more irritating than anything else. First the history is grossly innacurate. After reading the Masters of Rome series, learning about the time of Marius and Caesar have become a hobby for me. I was delighted to find another book on this pet subject of mine, but right into the story I became derailed with young Caesar growing up on an estate, outside of Rome. Then it gets worse (Marius an uncle on his mother's side, in the walls of Rome and asking for a Triumph) Ungh! But I read on hoping that at least the story would be good, but I'm dissapointed in that too. Total let down, this book is supposedly the first in a series, usually something I read to the very last book, but not this time. Just too bad, really.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful, just different than the Master's in Rome series
Review: A few people seem to have been really hard on this book because it wasn't as historically accurate as the Master's In Rome series of books. I love that series, and I thought this book was wonderful as well. It wouldn't have been very fun to read and rather redundant if it was the exact same as McCullough's books. This page-turner was an entrancing, enjoyable, and easy read and I can't wait for the next one in the series. If you are looking for nothing but historical accuracy and detail, perhaps you should go back to Gibbon or Plutarch. In my opinion Mr Iggulden wrote a wonderful book with this freshman effort.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible time-waster!
Review: I would have been willing to overlook the glaring historical inaccuracies in this book if the story had been engrossing and well written. But, life is too short to read something so trashy. As recommended by others, read the The First man in Rome series if you want historically accurate, well- written stories about interesting people.
Rating:
Summary: Good Fiction - questionable history
Review: I confess: I am a bigger fan of fiction than I am of history. Its nice when a novel can cover both categories well, but I will settle for a well written piece of fiction about a historical figure. That's exactly how I feel about this book. I think its a good story of the relationship between two boys in ancient Rome, and an excellent depiction of the adventure and horrors of the wars of that time. I am not an expert on Roman customs and history, but I've read a lot in this area and to me Iggulden has done his homework. He does include a short bibliography at the end for readers who want the straight historical facts, and I think thats all that can be expected of a novelist. I found the book fascinating and full of action and intrigue. If thats why you read, you'll enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Conan The Barbarian Meets Cicero
Review: Okay, my title is facetious, but I think those five words actually do capture the essence of this enjoyable bit of pulp fiction. At the risk of being politically incorrect, I will go further and say this is a "guy's novel": full of blood and guts, physical prowess, testosterone, warrior stuff, etc. Couldn't care less if it's historically accurate--I already know that "Gaul is divided in three parts." (Ever take Latin?) If you liked "Gladiator" (admit it, you did), you will enjoy this colorful, violent romp set in the glory days of the Roman Empire. But if you don't like the idea of a novel that begins with two eight-year-old boys being jumped by neighborhood bullies, hung upside down from a tree, and beaten unconscious, then skip it. (Of course, you know they're going to get even.) Somehow, the way Iggulden describes the action, it all seems very normal for that period in human history. In any case, though it can't be taken seriously as historical fiction, it is good sword-hacking fun for the schoolboy within.
Rating:
Summary: Caesar Lite
Review: An author really sets himself a difficult task when he sets out to write historical fiction using well-known historical figures as his centerpiece. History buffs will crucify him if he gets his facts wrong, and everyone else is looking very carefully to see of all the pieces fit. Iggulden's book is a pretty good try, but truth to tell, he misses on both counts. Julius Caesar is a legendary historical figure. His leadership, military prowess, and political skills were astonishing. Czars and Kaisers took their name from him. Hundreds of histories have been written about him. Shakespeare devoted a play to him. What kind of childhood must he have had? Well, in Iggulden's view he captured a bird. He outwitted a neighbor kid. He stayed in a freezing river for hours to prove his mettle. He was trained by a vicious gladiator. All right, this is kind of interesting, and I will admit that none of this is improbable, but, jeez, is this all he can come up with? For Caesar? Then there is his inexplicable and unnecessary rewriting of history. Marius it turns out maybe wasn't such a great guy, the way Iggulden portrays him. And he didn't die during the first revolt; he instead escaped and fought in Africa. Why change this around? This kind of thing does not instill a great deal of confidence in the reader, who may be hoping to learn something from this. Admittedly, some of the storytelling is pretty good, particularly that of Marcus, Julius' friend, who is sent by ship to Greece. He has some pretty good adventures both on the ship and after he lands. This was interesting, except that right at the end of the book, we find that Marcus is going to be yet another historical personage. The fun suddenly seemed to be taken out of it. And that, in the end, is the problem. Instead of being able to sit back and simply enjoy a good story--set in a fascinating historical period--one feels compelled to analyze each and every event through the lens of what one knows about these people, and unfortunately, comes away unconvinced. Iggulden would have been much better off creating fictional characters, because, frankly, his recreation of historical ones leaves a lot to be desired.
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