Many Suffered From Close Contact with Augustus - But Not Readers of this Work

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	• Augustus: A Novel John Edward Williams Vintage, 2004 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A personal look at Augustus

This book really connected me with the life and times of Octavian. I felt a very strong personal connection that I have seldom felt in other historical fiction I have read. The early part of the book describes his attempts to establish himself as more than just a curiosity(a 17 year old heir to Caesar)in Rome after returning, against his parents advice, following the assassination of Caesar and the reading of his will, which left him sole heir to Casar's fortune and power, if he can only find the will and path to pursue it. He is pitted against the likes of Antony and Cicero, major powers that have stepped into the power vacuum left after Caesar's assasination. This portion of the book conveys a very strong sense of how Octavian must have felt about his ultimately successful campaign to take what he felt was rightfully his, political power. He worked , with his small group of loyalists, very hard to be taken seriously, and was beset by doubt and fear. The uncertainty he felt, in his polical manuevering, is palpable. The end of the book is exceptionally lyrical and beatifully written, as Augustus reviews his life. It is a powerful but also quiet book that elicited within me strong feelings of fear, melancholy, sadness and, ultimately, hope. Augustus led an incredible life that he made for himself through his intellect, courage, stubbornness, and will. His life confirmed the potential that Caesar saw in their short time together in Gaul.

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smart, intelligent, with a clever design

A meticulously written novel, Augustus uses fictional letters, memoirs, histories and recollections to piece together the life and career of Augustus Caesar. So exacting is its detail, it is difficult to believe that the source materials are the products of Williams' imagination (spruced up by historical facts). This work shows how versatile the novel can be; fluid while at the same time containing a variety of perspectives; historically accurate while simultaneously an imaginative romp.

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A little slow but a good read

This is not a typical historical fiction book, I found it to be quite slow in parts. The action in this book is nonexistent,too much 3rd person telling of events that happend to others, and not enough of Augustus own words.All in all a very well written book, but this is not a book for an action fan like me.

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Ranks with "I Claudius" and "Memoirs of Hadrian"

I first heard about this extraordinary novel of ancient Rome during one of the regular Wednesday afternoon "Dirda On Books" discussions conducted on the Washington Post website. I began reading the book on a long air flight to Finland and became entirely engrossed. It is easy to understand why the book won the National Book Award in 1973--it is superbly written. The novel follows Octavius Caesar from early adulthood through his battles to become Emperor Augustus, and into old age. The author does not utilize a straight narrative but instead tells the story through the use of documents such as letters, diary entries, and Senate proceedings. All of this material flows very smoothly as the story unfolds. I found it particularly interesting to compare and contrast the author's portrait of Augustus with that developed on the recent HBO "Rome" series which covers much of the same ground. As the helpful introduction by John McGahern explains, the author was not a classicist and undertook substantial reseach in order to make the novel as historically accurate (with a few exceptions) as possible. While not quite as exquisite as Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian" (also reviewed on Amazon), this fine novel comes very close to it in quality. For anyone interested in Roman history or just an outstanding read, this is a book well worth considering.

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Many Suffered From Close Contact with Augustus - But Not Readers of this Work

John Edward Williams won the 1973 National Book Award for 'Augustus' and deservedly so. This amazing piece of literature masquerading as historical fiction (and I like historical fiction) draws the reader into the world of Gaius Octavius, later to be Augustus, first emperor of Rome.

Williams tells his tale by the unusual technique of presenting letters, journal entries, and memoirs. By this method he allows the reader to gradually enter, indeed become immersed in, the world of Augustus, his family, friends, enemies, and most important, his Rome. 'Augustus' traces his rise from the vulnerable adopted son of Julius Caesar through a steady accretion of power as he becomes first a triumvir (with Mark Antony and the nonentity Lepidus), and then settles in as emperor of the world.

The historical record for Augustus's life has gaps that challenge an author and Williams grasps the challenge deftly, just as Augustus grasped power. We see Augustus as an aloof, cold and calculating politician whose assiduous pursuit and cautious exercise of power allows him to hold that power for over four decades, but always using that power for Rome, always for Rome, his Rome.

Yet many people suffer from their close contact with this man - his equally calculating wife Livia, for one, his dear friends Maecenas and Salvidienus, to name two more, but none more so than his daughter Julia. The last third or so of the book focuses on the break between Augustus and Julia. Williams presents an interesting and shocking explanation for Julia's exile - at least an explanation that Augustus believes or claims to.

The penultimate chapter draws Augustus's life to a close with a lengthy letter to Nicolaus of Damascus in which a dying Augustus bemoans his fate and the weight of authority he has had to bear - it is really most unattractive for one of the most powerful men in history to indulge in such self-centered despair, but it also rings true because Augustus spent his life denying himself so many pleasures in order to hold on to power for the good of Rome, as he convinced himself. In the end, Augustus saw himself as the embodiment of Rome - anything that threatened his power, threatened Rome. This is so well done that one finds oneself becoming angry with Augustus, who is after all just a character in this brilliant work of historical fiction.

'Augustus' is not an easy read. Prior knowledge of the historical era certainly aids the enjoyment and comprehension of the book. Ultimately, however, this remarkable work of historical fiction and literature deserves the highest recommendation.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

A brilliant and beautifully written novel in the tradition of Robert Graves? I, Claudius, Augustus is a sweeping narrative that brings vividly to life a compelling cast of historical figures through their letters, dispatches, and memoirs.

A mere eighteen years of age when his uncle, Julius Caesar, is murdered, Octavius Caesar prematurely inherits rule of the Roman Republic. Surrounded by men who are jockeying for power?Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony?young Octavius must work against the powerful Roman political machinations to claim his destiny as first Roman emperor. Sprung from meticulous research and the pen of a true poet, Augustus tells the story of one man?s dream to liberate a corrupt Rome from the fancy of the capriciously crooked and the wildly wealthy.

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