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A review by mw2k
Masters of Rome by Robert Fabbri
4.0
More of a 3.75 than a 4.
I'm not as keen on this installment as I was the previous four due to the inclusion of some (unnecessary, to me) supernatural elements. Also, like the book before it, it's a work of two very distinct parts that don't join together at the seams as well as they should.
Apart from that, what more do we know about the life of Vespasian? That he lives in some very interesting and challenging times - at least for someone of his standing. It's a dangerous and precipitous world he lives in, and it's only becoming more so due to the expansionist actions of the Romans.
The ongoing "colonisation" (there's a euphemism for you) of Britannia is painted in the most cynical and questioning of terms, and rightly so. The place was invaded for no other reason than for personal prestige of the Roman Emperor. No other compelling reason. All very telling and ironic considering what the British themselves did 1700-1800 years later.
Anyhow, this is as good as the other four apart from the supernatural stuff.
I'm not as keen on this installment as I was the previous four due to the inclusion of some (unnecessary, to me) supernatural elements. Also, like the book before it, it's a work of two very distinct parts that don't join together at the seams as well as they should.
Apart from that, what more do we know about the life of Vespasian? That he lives in some very interesting and challenging times - at least for someone of his standing. It's a dangerous and precipitous world he lives in, and it's only becoming more so due to the expansionist actions of the Romans.
The ongoing "colonisation" (there's a euphemism for you) of Britannia is painted in the most cynical and questioning of terms, and rightly so. The place was invaded for no other reason than for personal prestige of the Roman Emperor. No other compelling reason. All very telling and ironic considering what the British themselves did 1700-1800 years later.
Anyhow, this is as good as the other four apart from the supernatural stuff.