The Course of Honor

This is an amazingly sweet book. Two people, one a bad tempered angry slave and one the unimportant son of a provincial tax collector meet when the man and his brother get lost in the imperial palace in Rome. They come across a young slave girl cooking sausages and an attraction is formed for life between the young man and the slave. Vespasian is not an important man in Rome when he meets Caenis. In fact, though he is later and senator and she is later a freewoman, there is a long span of time where her connections to the royal family make her important than he is. But they loved each other deeply their whole lives in spite of their long separation of twenty years when he married, and she even helped him raise his children. When Nero died and Vespasian took the purple in a military coup, he has his beloved move into the palace with him-defying all social conventions to be with her. The absolute only thing I think could have made this book more sweetly romantic would be Vespasian overruling the law that members of the senate couldn't marry freedwoman. But hey, perhaps that was a more drastic step that it seems it would have been. Roman society confuses me, but in this book it is clear, wonderful, corrupt and a place where even social opposites can fall in love. Five stars. I'm really looking forward to Lindsey Davis' new book, Rebels and Traitors which is about the second English civil war and comes out in January. For more reading on Vespasian's younger son corrupt and disastrous rule of Rome check out The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie.

This is an amazingly sweet book. Two people, one a bad tempered angry slave and one the unimportant son of a provincial tax collector meet when the man and his brother get lost in the imperial palace in Rome. They come across a young slave girl cooking sausages and an attraction is formed for life between the young man and the slave. Vespasian is not an important man in Rome when he meets Caenis. In fact, though he is later and senator and she is later a freewoman, there is a long span of time where her connections to the royal family make her important than he is. But they loved each other deeply their whole lives in spite of their long separation of twenty years when he married, and she even helped him raise his children. When Nero died and Vespasian took the purple in a military coup, he has his beloved move into the palace with him-defying all social conventions to be with her. The absolute only thing I think could have made this book more sweetly romantic would be Vespasian overruling the law that members of the senate couldn't marry freedwoman. But hey, perhaps that was a more drastic step that it seems it would have been. Roman society confuses me, but in this book it is clear, wonderful, corrupt and a place where even social opposites can fall in love. Five stars. For more reading on Vespasian's younger son corrupt and disastrous rule of Rome check out The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie.

I almost didn't want to read this book since it wasn't part of the Didius Falco series, but decided to go ahead because Ms. Davis is such a wonderful writer. Am I ever glad that I did! This is a marvellous book. It so richly descibes the life of ancient Rome, and the many coups, killings, wars and public displays that went on then in the Imperial city. It also richly describes a great love story. This is a love story between a freed woman and a future emporer of Rome - Vespasian. It is a love story that survives for decades. What a wonderful woman Caenis must have been - a true partner for a great and wonderful leader. The author depicts her characters so well that they appear to come alive in this beautiful story. I feel privileged that I was able to read this wonderful book.

Being a fan of Lindsey Davis' series of historic mysteries of Marcus Didius Falco, and also having recently read "Vespasian" by Barbara Levick, I found this novel to be an acurate and entertaining portrayal of the long time relationship of Vespasian and Caenis. It is neither the rollicking, irreverant narrative of Falco, or the dry statement of historical footnotes in a textbook; "Course of Honor" combines the best of both in a tale that gives a wonderful perspective on the life of one of Rome's better emperors through the eyes of the woman who truly stood by his side.

Many stories written about Ancient Rome are from the man'spoint of view with little or no attention paid to the strong womenbehind the men. Lindsey Davis has done excellent work in incorporating women in the Marcus Didius Falco books with Helena, but this book is riviting and a wonderful story. Vespatians mistress, Caenis is the main character and Davis does an excellent job portraying a strong woman in the man's world of Ancient Rome. A must read for anyone interested in the female voice in Ancient Rome!