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sonofthunder's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. I've read several of Holland's other books (Persian Fire and Rubicon) and was much enthralled by them. So another historical narrative by Holland? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous ones I'd read of his, so not really sure if it's just me who's changed, or if this book really is inferior. This book is focused on the house of Caesar - showing the rise to Empire (although it was not acknowledged as such in that time, the Roman Republic was Empire in all but name) and the rise and fall of the numerous emperors of the Caesar dynasty. I did appreciate this book for giving me a better knowledge of that time period - I now am at least a bit more knowledgeable about the emperors of the first century. Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero...some great leadership there(mostly Augustus)....some rule that was mediocre(Tiberius, Claudius) and some downright abysmal and terrifying characters(Caligula, Nero). The knowledge gained, I appreciated. But it may just be the characteristics of these emperors and their surrounding retinues, but...reading this book was a dark experience. These emperors were not nice people. They did lots of crazy, wicked things. Rome itself seemed to be a hive of degeneracy and selfishness and mad grasping for pleasure and power. I think I probably would have appreciated a bit more of the overall history of the empire at the time, but this book (most likely of necessity to keep this book manageable) focuses mostly on the person and family of the various emperors - a pretty tight focus on the city of Rome itself. And focusing on these people and their exploits was a...depressing experience. I think Holland did a good job of gathering facts and presenting the story of the Julio-Claudians, but I noticed in this book his tendency for the hyper-dramatic and his flair for presenting the filthy and the macabre parts of history. Holland seems to want to linger over the tendencies of humanity that I would prefer to spend less time on, and while that is surely his prerogative, I did not enjoy the ride. His prose in this one also seemed a bit more fantastical and purple than I necessarily appreciate in a historical narrative. I probably wouldn't want to read this again, but surely that may be more due to my own preferences than the skill of Holland as a historian and author. Many things that are done in the shadows should surely be dragged into the light, but I did not enjoy wading through this shameful period of history. The Romans are not necessarily known to be nice people, and here it seems the worst of all receive the spotlight. Hail the Julio-Claudians - brutal, selfish, self-indulgent, arrogant and power-hungry. I am grateful not to live during those times.
bradism's review against another edition
4.0
Review
I picked up this audiobook hoping for a comprehensive, enlightening overview with regards to Ancient Rome. In hindsight this was an extremely optimistic expectation for a single book. Dynasty is not a history book as much as it is a history ride focusing specifically on Augustus Caesar and his descendants. Holland follows narrative themes rather than chronological ones, translates dialogue into sensational, modern English and rarely makes comments about his sources. Initially, as narrator Mark Meadows smoothly narrated the first few chapters I struggled to absorb the richness of detail and understand the important characters from the less important. This was made doubly difficult because ancient Romans had a habit of giving each other new names based on other's old names.
Eventually I settled into the cadence of the "story" and began to trust Holland to highlight and foreshadow the critical pieces of information, while letting tangents and bit-playing senators not make it into my long term memory. Holland's roots as a fiction writer give him good tools for telling this tale right. If I'd had a better background in ancient history this might have been a more engaging experience, but given the source material - the drama, politics, assassinations and conspiracies - I was happy to be washed over by the wave of information from Julius to Nero, and if I do decide to pursue any further my interest in Roman history this will prove to be a good anchoring point.
What did I learn?
Other than a lot of historical events, the thing that stood out most to me about life during the golden years of the Roman empire was how eerily similar life was then and now. Of course, we are all human beings, but I hadn't expected the level of sophistication and what I'd thought were 2020 issues to have been so prevalent in ancient Rome.
There were small things, like cults of personality, fake news, postponed Olympics, apartments with ground level retail, and plenty of graffitied memes. But there was also the push for trans rights, controversial property developments and literally "Making Rome Great Again."
My favourite modern day reference though, was when, under the weight of yet another political scandal Caesar dismissed the senate's concerns by saying that this would all be forgotten when the next inevitable scandal came up.
Highlight
With their wealth of religions and superstitions, the ancient Romans took symbolism very seriously. When, shortly after Nero had his own mother killed (one of many horrific deeds he spun as pious) a comet appeared. A sign known with much certainty to foretell the death and disaster, Nero's Imperial Advisor Seneca somehow managed to spin it as a sign of positivity, and that on top of his other achievements the Emperor had redeemed comets from their cosmic stigma.
I picked up this audiobook hoping for a comprehensive, enlightening overview with regards to Ancient Rome. In hindsight this was an extremely optimistic expectation for a single book. Dynasty is not a history book as much as it is a history ride focusing specifically on Augustus Caesar and his descendants. Holland follows narrative themes rather than chronological ones, translates dialogue into sensational, modern English and rarely makes comments about his sources. Initially, as narrator Mark Meadows smoothly narrated the first few chapters I struggled to absorb the richness of detail and understand the important characters from the less important. This was made doubly difficult because ancient Romans had a habit of giving each other new names based on other's old names.
Eventually I settled into the cadence of the "story" and began to trust Holland to highlight and foreshadow the critical pieces of information, while letting tangents and bit-playing senators not make it into my long term memory. Holland's roots as a fiction writer give him good tools for telling this tale right. If I'd had a better background in ancient history this might have been a more engaging experience, but given the source material - the drama, politics, assassinations and conspiracies - I was happy to be washed over by the wave of information from Julius to Nero, and if I do decide to pursue any further my interest in Roman history this will prove to be a good anchoring point.
What did I learn?
Other than a lot of historical events, the thing that stood out most to me about life during the golden years of the Roman empire was how eerily similar life was then and now. Of course, we are all human beings, but I hadn't expected the level of sophistication and what I'd thought were 2020 issues to have been so prevalent in ancient Rome.
There were small things, like cults of personality, fake news, postponed Olympics, apartments with ground level retail, and plenty of graffitied memes. But there was also the push for trans rights, controversial property developments and literally "Making Rome Great Again."
My favourite modern day reference though, was when, under the weight of yet another political scandal Caesar dismissed the senate's concerns by saying that this would all be forgotten when the next inevitable scandal came up.
Highlight
With their wealth of religions and superstitions, the ancient Romans took symbolism very seriously. When, shortly after Nero had his own mother killed (one of many horrific deeds he spun as pious) a comet appeared. A sign known with much certainty to foretell the death and disaster, Nero's Imperial Advisor Seneca somehow managed to spin it as a sign of positivity, and that on top of his other achievements the Emperor had redeemed comets from their cosmic stigma.
mike_baker's review against another edition
4.0
A nice alternative to the dusty, ponderous academic tomes I ploughed through when studying this stuff at University. Those books held no brief to entertain, and yet the story they told is about as thrilling as literature can ever get, and it was all true. Holland writes for the reader who doesn't have a degree riding on the material, and weaves a hell of a yarn. Everything's here for a superb romp - dysfunctional family dynamics, matricide, regicide, suicide, other things ending in -cide, pomp, games of thrones, and the overarching theme of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Some of it will come across as almost unbelievable, and yet it was the reality of Rome in the first cycle of its Emperors, the self-destructive and in-fighting cohorts of the Julio-Claudian family, a more self-serving and loathsome group of characters it would be difficult to meet.