3/28/2023 0 Comments Colossus of neroA small, poignant episode made an impression on me: a son kills his father by mistake in night battle one is for Vitellius, one for Vespasian. I wouldn't be surprised if the young man will use it as a guiding star for his own life. His son, Clemens, will never forget their conversation. I also liked Sabinus's rumination on what is a good death: one in which you sacrifice yourself for something higher than yourself. His meetings with Clemens brought out Clemens's selfless side. Other more minor characters were well drawn, especially Spiros, Nero's boy-wife. The author speculated very logically why he turned out as horrible as he did: childhood neglect and a year as hostage to Nero in Greece that gave the final evil twist to his personality. Ironically, he has not advanced himself for supreme power. Upon Nero's death, the year plays itself out in horror and blood, with Vespasian left standing. Upset after a prophecy of the Oracle at Delphi to which he had been summoned personally, he ruminates on the meaning of her cryptic words as pertaining to the whole situation and to him himself. The main character is a very sympathetic Titus Flavius Sabinus, nephew to Vespasian. Upon Nero's suicide the country enters a period of chaos and civil war. I could accept the graphic nature of the sexual orgy at a lake near his Golden House, in the context in which it was presented here. The first phase of the war is going well for them, especially with the help of the turncoat Jewish general, Josephus. The novel follows events in Rome and the progress of the Jewish War from the Roman perspective. This novel was absolutely enthralling! Once you pick it up, it's hard to put down! Not really a sequel to Book 1 in the series, this was more a telling the progression of events from the Roman side except for our following a mother and daughter, both Jewish slaves in a wealthy household in Rome.
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