I started it 3 months ago as part of a monthly group readalong and I have been entertained, I've been hooked, I've been fascinated and I've learned so so much. Personally, I think that it might have been far more interesting to have only the historical background of the struggle of the Republic with Catilina and more depth of character. Harris describes Cicero, Caesar and Octavian (among others) in the same high level of detail as the world building.

Still, I rated the trilogy only 3 stars, because as a whole I found it a bit of a missed opportunity. of famed Roman orator and consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero as told from the perspective of Cicero's slave/scribe/secretary Tiro.It is remarkably deadpan, and as I read I couldn’t help thinking it resembled an ancient-world version of Bridget Jones’s’ Diary - profoundly unfair as I have never read Bridget Jones’s’ Diary: but that’s what it felt like. As I neared the end of the trilogy I realised that I had whisked through more than 900 pages of Roman history – no mean feat on its own on RH’s part. By the end, Cicero's soaring oratory is the only force left against those powers moving to snuff out Roman freedom for ever.

And I was really hoping it’d be better than Lustrum and as good as Imperium but unfortunately it wasn’t. Cicero is forced to borrow money from Terentia to support his case and leaves Rome on the Ides of January to seek evidence against Verres in Sicily.Desalniettemin legt Robert Harris het grote verhaal duidelijk uit en is het leven van Cicero en Tiro mooi ingevuld en verteld in deze trilogie. But the path to becoming the famous orator we now know is strewn with dangerous men who would see a high-minded lawyer dead in a ditch to get what they want. If a book contains ancient Rome or Cicero it's an instant read for me, and this series really didn't disappoint, Cicero is such a worthy protagonist in the shambles that was politics in Rome. His influenced the Latin language, introduced Greek philosophy to the Romans, and fought political duels against Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, and Octavian, who would become Augustus Caesar.

A rising young lawyer backed by a shrewd wife, he decides to gamble everything on one of the most dramatic courtroom battles of all time.I thought the book would end with Caesar as Emperor but it goes on beyond that - and by “that” I mean “that” famous scene, which was remarkably written. Tiro arranges for a place to hide him – in one of his wife's garrets in the Roman slums – and a decision is made to appeal to the tribunes and a deal is made with Palicanus, one of Pompey's lackeys.

History is usually written by the victor, so the rather negative portrait of Caesar is an interesting thought, and perfectly credible from the point of view of Cicero who, at least we are certain about that historical fact, was a staunch defender of the republic. There is a conspiracy to take down the Republic and create an absolute ruler, an Emperor, which we know will be Julius Caesar, and so there is endless discussions over elections, bribing voters, legal discussions of ruling, and so on that become the main focus of this second part. Part one sees Cicero rise to power, part 2 shows what he does with it and part 3 describes the chaotic aftermath in which the man is mainly naive, obstinate and melancholy. Tiro is dispatched off to meet with Caelius Rufus, who is now working for Crassus, to find out what his plans are. Sthenius, who has been ignored for some time, turns up at the house one morning, accompanied by Heraclius and Epicrates who have also been swindled out of their estates by Verres.Trading Address (Warehouse) Unit E, Vulcan Business Complex, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EB. He has been a television correspondent with the BBC and a newspaper columnist for the London Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph.