Render Unto Caesar

I used to only like a story (movie or book) of ancient Rome if it had lots of military campaigns and gladiatorial gore in them. Then like most teenagers I grew up and discovered novels like those written by Gillian Bradshaw could offer something without all that. This tale of a Greek moneylender (Hermogenes) who travels from Alexandria to Rome to collect an inherited debt owed to his deceased father shows its writers undoubted knowledge of her subject matter. You can find as much fascination with the descriptions of Rome circa 16BC and the life of its populace as you can wishing its principle character success in his mission to recover what is rightfully owed to him. Hermogenes task is made all the more problematic by the fact that the man his father once did business with is now one of the Consuls of Rome. Only outranked by Emperor Augustus. The advantages of power, the need to find people you can trust to help and the subtle art of survival when you are a small fish in a big pond all result in plots developing within plots - which helps the story stay fresh and interesting. Of particular interest was the characters who come into Hermogenes struggle. The most fascinating for me was Cantabra the Hispanic Celt and former gladiatrix. Attractive but hardly feminine her relationship with Hermogenes is a fascinating weaves of contrasting characters. The kindly and trusting Greek with educated and polite tongue vs the street wise and straight talking Celt provide many fine moments in this book. Another highlight of all Gillians books are the "authors notes" at the end. In these notes she provides answers to questions one might raise about the events within her story. Fact and fiction it may be but her notes support the fact she writes an accurate account of the times - no research short cuts for this classically educated authoress. An excellent and enjoyable read and as a bonus you learn something about the place and its people.

As a huge fan of any good book about Romans (especially Colleen McCullough's series) I eagerly snatched this one up and I wasn't disappointed. Although not grand in scale like many works set in Rome at its heyday, it is exceptionally faithful to the historical accuracy of the time (16 bc) and to the leading figures who interact with the main character, a fictional Alexandrian businessman from Egypt. The author is a gifted storyteller who immediately immerses you into Rome and the plight of this proud and honest "Greekling" who gets himself caught up in high-power Roman consular plots and intrigue. The author also does an excellent job of peering into the hearts of her characters, and deftly weaves the appropriate amount of loves lost and found into the plot, not to mention the ubiquitous greed and pride that goes with any Roman story. Believable and interesting from start to finish, it is very well written.And my measure of a books success - I had great difficulty putting it down until I was done! Highly recommended for fans of the Roman era and lovers of a well-told story.

The reader from Sandy, UT, is entitled to dislike this book, and as the author, I am not entitled to say anything except 'I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.' However, I feel that I am entitled to respond to the accusation of anachronism and ignorance of ancient Rome.Look, I have two good university degrees in Classical Greek and Latin and 25+ years of studying classical antiquity, and it really, really annoys me when I get accused of anachronism on the basis of what some twerp said in Classical Civilisation 101. If you have some evidence that what I've said is wrong, I'd like to hear it, but I very much doubt you do. For example, I could cite you primary sources from Plato to St. Paul, and secondary sources from Carcopino to Crook, to argue that Hermogenes' attitude towards his slaves, far from being anachronistic, is in fact the benevolent paternalism that was the Graeco-Roman ideal for a paterfamilias. (Sure, they didn't live up to their ideals--that makes them human, but does not constitute anachronism.) As for the question of female gladiators--I dealt with that in the afterword. That particular detail is in even the popular history books on gladiators, and if Sandy UT hasn't bothered to read any of them, he or she really shouldn't be sounding off in public about my ignorance.In case my others readers think my standards of research are slipping--no, they're not: this book was as accurate I could make it.

This was a very good book for historical fiction fans.Hermogenes, a Romanized Greek banker from Alexandria, travels to Rome to collect a debt that he inherited from a relative. He has no reason to believe that everything won't go according to law. After all, the man who owes him is very wealthy. Why would he miss such a paltry sum? Unfortunately, the debtor, now a powerful consul, sees no reason that a "true" Roman should pay the likes of a Greek. This sets off a wild ride for Hermogenes as he runs a round Rome just a step ahead of his enemies trying to collect his money and go hom in one piece.The best part of the book is the setting. Like many ancient history fiction books, the plot need not as important as the scenery. There is plenty of historical "eye candy." Ancient Rome really comes alive -- the government buildings, prisons, centurions, city walls and gates, and even the different types of housing, both tenements and high-class villas.This isn't to say that the plot suffers -- it is very good, too. All the characters play their parts well -- the golden=hearted Hermogenes, the loyal Maerica, the merchant Crispus, the fair but tough Taurus, and the properly rotten Pollio and Rufus.With both the Emperor and his right-hand man, Agrippa, absent from Rome, we get to see the rest of Rome -- its consuls, prefects, and businessmen. The plot begins quite simply, but even when events go crazy, I still understood them. There are not too many characters, and they are well-developed. I especially liked the scenes in Crispus' house, describing the people who work there. I admit that the story is very pat with a "happily ever after" ending. Also, Hermogenes is often too good to be true. Then again, everyone keeps calling him a "strange man."All in all, this is a very good book -- a good view of the ancient world and a good story.

Gillian Bradshaw's newest, "Render unto Caesar," came yesterday and I just finished it - it's that good. I'm a fan of all of her books and admire her ability to create three-dimensional characters set in ancient Rome, Athens, Alexandria, or Britannia, but I think this book is at the very top of her form.Set in the mid-period of Augustus' reign, Hermogenes, a young Greek merchant from Alexandria who has "purchased" and very proud of his new Roman citizenship, comes to Rome to settle the problem of a debt, inherited from his uncle, from a wealthy Roman who, it turns out, is now Consul of Rome Hermogenes thinks, as a respectable Roman citizen, he can politely demand payment under Roman law and all will be well. What happens, however, when he asks the powerful Lucius Tarius Rufus for his 450,000 sesterci debt, sets a plot in motion that is as enticing as any thriller while full thought-provoking historical questions that will intrigue and puzzle. Bradshaw's book is centered in a very real sense of just what real life might have felt like in ancient Rome, from what a wealthy man ate at a dinner party to the refuse and fleas of a fourth-rate insula room for rent. Hermogenes is a fascinating and ultimately admirable character, deeply committed to the idea of Roman justice, proud of his citizenship - yet a Greek from Alexandria in the generation just after Actium and Cleopatra when Greeks were despised as effete and Egyptians as subhuman. His adventures and dangers in Rome feel satisfyingly three-dimensional, without any of that unfortunate trend towards setting a "2003 plot in a toga" that mar some Roman efforts. Bradshaw's scholarship is impressive, and invisible. From the smells and sounds of the early-morning Roman market to what multi-millionaires do to recalcitrant slaves (feed them to the lampreys, which is historically accurate!), Hermogenes dwells in a concrete time, space, and growing danger. And throughout, the question resonates - what does it mean to be a Roman citizen? And is it more, or less, than being a free man in a free country?The plot twists and turns with no simple answers but driven by the pacing of the characters themselves. If you only read one book about ancient Rome this year, make it "Render Unto Caesar." You'll never feel quite the same way again about the Rome of Augustus and the "Pax Romana."