A review by earwicker
Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris

4.0

In the first of his Cicero trilogy Robert Harris tells the story of Cicero through the eyes of his amanuensis and slave, Tiro. The events of the novel are well documented in history, but here Cicero's story is granted a kind of credibility that only well-written fiction is allowed. Rather than addressing the questions of subjectivity and interpretation that historical documents inevitably raise, the reader is free to believe Harris's wondrous conceit that Tiro was able to faithfully transcribe all of the conversations he heard in Cicero's company. Tiro's stenography is a fantastic ploy, and it works beautifully. Tiro is the perfectly objective witness: as a slave he is almost invisible to the story's insiders, and as Cicero's constant companion he never misses a thing. Harris is careful to leave his character undeveloped: Tiro is a sensitive cipher through whom all matters of importance pass untouched to the reader; he is at once both the least and most important person in the novel.

Aside from this ingenious device, I like the balanced way in which Harris portrays Cicero, though I suppose the device may be half the reason for this. Cicero is the hero of the story, so he gets a mostly positive treatment, with a few warts for verisimilitude. It isn't the literary feast of a Robert Graves, but a very enjoyable read nevertheless. I'm looking forward to the next installments in the series.