Imperium

English language

Published April 16, 2010

ISBN:
978-1-4090-2162-9
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4 stars (5 reviews)

Imperium is a 2006 novel by English author Robert Harris. It is a fictional biography of Cicero, told through the first-person narrator of his secretary Tiro, beginning with the prosecution of Verres. The book is the first in a trilogy. The second volume, Lustrum, was published in October 2009. The third volume, Dictator, was published in 2015. Publication of the sequels was delayed whilst Harris worked on other books, including his contemporary political novel, The Ghost, inspired by the resignation of Tony Blair. The book was serialised as the Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 from 4 to 15 September 2006, read by Douglas Hodge. An abridged audiobook on compact disc is available, read by British actor Oliver Ford Davies. Unabridged audiobooks on compact disc are also available, read by Simon Jones and Bill Wallis. A theatrical adaptation of the trilogy by Mike Poulton was performed by the Royal …

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reviewed Imperium by Robert Harris

Imperium

5 stars

Before Imperium, I read two other books by Robert Harris, Fatherland and Second Sleep. They were both excellent, and I expected good things of this one. I wasn't disappointed.

Imperium is the first volume in a trilogy about the Roman statesman, lawyer and philosopher, Cicero (106 - 43BCE). It purports to be a biography in the voice of Tiro, his secretary, slave and friend, who he later freed. In fact, the historical Tiro did write Cicero's biography, but it's been lost to history.

This first voume covers Cicero's early career as a lawyer and politician in Republican Rome, as he worked to attain the rank of consul. We also learn a lot about Tiro, who invented an efficient form of stenography on clay tablets that made him invaluable to Cicero.

Two things in particular make this a very enjoyable novel. One is Harris' ability to conjure scenes so vividly that …

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