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A review by jvan
Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland
4.0
Very nearly 5 stars; the early portion about Augustus was 5 stars, easy; Tiberius could be 5 stars; Caligula was 5 stars. But Claudius and Nero were a little less good, and overall, I'd call it closer to 4 than to 5.
That said, this is a really well written book that looks at the Julio-Claudians in a narrow focus, paying attention to all the twists and turns of the dynasty and only glancingly looking to the rest of Roman history; where that history impacts or is impacted by the House of Caesar, it features (and much of it was, of course) but when history doesn't feature them, it doesn't really feature in the book. The focus does the narrative very well. Holland knew what he was doing when he made that choice, and it pays off.
So then, very nearly 5 stars. Maybe it should be 5? Well, I'm leaving it as 4 for the moment.
That said, this is a really well written book that looks at the Julio-Claudians in a narrow focus, paying attention to all the twists and turns of the dynasty and only glancingly looking to the rest of Roman history; where that history impacts or is impacted by the House of Caesar, it features (and much of it was, of course) but when history doesn't feature them, it doesn't really feature in the book. The focus does the narrative very well. Holland knew what he was doing when he made that choice, and it pays off.
So then, very nearly 5 stars. Maybe it should be 5? Well, I'm leaving it as 4 for the moment.