There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book and drinking a cup of tea. Whenever I get the chance I always love to just curl up and read a great book. Julius Caesar is dead, assassinated on the senate floor, and the glory that is Rome has been torn in two. Octavian, Caesar’s ambitious great-nephew and adopted son, vies with Marc Antony and Cleopatra for control of Caesar’s legacy.
Who can remember reading this in school, I can but this book takes you back in history, till when all of this happened and went down. Romes falling apart and there are two sides. Impending war bubbles across the Roman Empire as Livingston’s story starts. Julius Caesar has been assassinated and after failed attempts at co-ruling the empire, Caesar’s general Marc Antony and his adopted son Octavian jockey for position, allies, and support within their strongholds in the east and west: Antony in Alexandria, Egypt, and Octavian in Rome.
here are two sets of main characters that are followed throughout the book, Juba and Cleopatra Selene as their stories are naturally intertwined through actual history. The second set is Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who might be recognized as the main characters from HBO’s Rome. The book follows the history of the events of the battle of Actium and of the suicides of Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Additionally, the book correctly speaks of the writings of Julius Caesar and the mentioning of both Vorenus and Pullo. What side would have chosen to be on?
The main characters all seem shallowly drawn though I have hope that they will be more fleshed out in the next book. I’m hoping its just a result of so much happening in this book to get things started. This takes you back to that time and place.
You can get the book here.