Ahira's Hangar

I have now made it through the first nine of the twelve. I have Vespasian and his two sons yet to go. Those are short chapters, as well. Maybe I will finally finish this book after all.

I kept hitting a really disturbing part (like Tiberius and the unweaned babies) and I would have to put the book down for awhile. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Vespasian should be a relief.

I suggest when you finish that, you go on to THE COURSE OF HONOR by Lindsey Davis. It's a delightful novel about Vespasian.

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Duchess, interesting your brief comments about Claudius, because historians, and it's probably because of the overbearing influence of the Graves book, have tended to regard Claudius as the most normal of the Augustan lineage. Of course after reigns of his own uncle Tiberius, and his nephew Caligula, I suppose Ed Gein might seem almost normal. Is Pliny still your source? And does Pliny consider that Caligula poisoned one of his parents? taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
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Joy, I will definately check out that book, as I DID end up liking Vespasian, and his older son Titus, the best of the twelve emperors in the book.

Taras, the sourse is a guy names Suetonius, who was a top aid to the Emperor Hadrian, and who had access to the imperial archives, and all of the letters and personal papers of the emperors.

Claudius comes across as more normal than some of the people in his family (though even the worst serial killer might seem normal in comparison to Caligula or Nero), but hardle "normal" by our standards, or even Roman standards. Claudius apparently had a real liking to watch people being tortured or killed (though he did not participate in the torture like Nero is said to have). Romans thought he was odd because he was only into women sexually, in an age when bisexuality was very common and socially accepted.

Many of the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian family had relatives murdered. I think that contributed to their general paranoia and weirdness when they got to the throne. They lived in fear of being killed 24-7, and could trust no one. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Joy, I found a used copy of the Davis book, and it is on its way to me.

In the meantime, I am reading The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus. He covers some of the same ground as Suetonius - Tiberius through Nero, though some years (such as all of Caligula and part of Claudius and a part of Nero) have been lost through the centuries. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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After some side digressions and a long vacation where I read nothing at all, I have returned to Tactitus's Annals. I am having some of the same problems I had with the Suetonius - so many of the families keep using the same names so frequently (the same names will keep popping up generation after generation in multiple braches of the same families) and all of the people are so interrelated and the way they keep adopting each other (adults included) and the high rate of divorces makes it very very hard to keep track of who is who and who is related to who and in what ways!!!

I have just finished up with Tiberius, who Tacitus viewed with as much dislike as Suetonius did. Tiberius killed many family members, such his promising young nephew/adopted son Germanicus (adored by the Legions and the commons, he was seen as a threat) and eventually that young man's widow and some of his children. His blood son was murdered by his (the son's) wife, and that also led to a lot of deaths of the wife and a top aid and many of that top aid's friends. At least Tacitus does not decribe the vile sexual practices Tiberius was said to enjoy. This author just says that Tiberius did things that cannot be discussed due to their depravity!

The annals dealing with Caligula were lost (thankfully).

So now I will begin reading about Claudius and Nero.

Nero, incidentally, pretty much killed off all of the remaining members of his family. He (or his mother) killed off Claudius who had adopted Nero, then Claudius's blood son Brittanicus. Nero eventually even killed off his mother...and was also said to be having an incestuous affair with her at one point in time. He also battered one of his wives to death when she was pregnant. Not a nice man at all! ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I just saw on netflix that the first season of HBO's Rome will be released on dvd in August, 2006. I know that people were wondering when that would occur. <i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi at: 6/20/06 10:18 pm
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Oh, good, I have my eye on that first season. I never did manage to catch the series on TV, so I will have to either find it at the library or buy it.

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I finally managed to finish up Tacitus's Annals.

Good God, Nero was a major league freak!!!

I also recently read the book about Vespasian that Joy recommended, the novel Course of Honor by Lindsey Davis. It was very well done, following the lives of Vespasian and of his greatest love, a freed slave whom he had a relationship with for decades but whom it was illegal for him to marry.

In the Suetonius book I read, their relationship was mentioned in a very positive way. And apparently one of the first great indications that Domitian would turn out to be a rotter was him being rude to his father's lady. <i></i>

This Tuesday is the release date for the HBO Rome miniseries. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I have been reading: IMPERIUM by Robert Harris.
A novel about the life of the famous Roman Marcus Cicero, as written by his slave and long term secretary, Tiro. So far it is well written and very interesting. I love the voice it is written in. Cicero is a man of burning, fiery ambition. He will stop at nothing to get ahead in politics - even do great things that help a lot of people! And bad things, too, of course.
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Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I am loving the novel Imperium. It is one of those books you do not wish to finish. Cicero is an interesting character - every time you think you have him pegged as a sleazy lawyer/politician who will stop at nothing to get elected to the next office, he will do something that will just blow you away with his integrity and/or courage.

Lots of parallels between Rome towards the end of the Republic and America now, complete to people using terror fears to take power and trample on ancient rights - and to a Senate that is so corrupt it would out stink a sewer.

Very fun and timely read! ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I bought IMPERIUM on Duchess's recommendation. Now hoping for a chance to read it...
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I hope Joy will enjoy it even half as much as I did - because that will still be a lot!

I just love the voice of the one hundred year old Tiro - Harris did a great job with that narration.

The real world Tiro actually did write a biography of his master, Cicero - but that was lost long ago when Rome fell.

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Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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An interesting and unexpected source for fictional treatment of Imperial Roman life in the early days is Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkweicz (spelling is wrong), a Polish author. I read this as a HS student, and enjoyed it throughly; FWIW, I think the author won a Noblel for literature. Did they ever make a movie of that book? In many ways QV is superior text to the sanitized version, Ben-Hur by Henry Wallace. Does anyone read either book these day? taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
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