The Gates of Rome
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Conn Iggulden |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Emperor series |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 6 January 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 416 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-00-713689-7 (first edition, hardback) & ISBN 0-00-713690-0 (paperback edition) |
| Followed by | The Death of Kings |
The Gates Of Rome is the first novel in the Emperor series, written by author Conn Iggulden. The series is historical fiction following the life of Julius Caesar.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The first book in the series introduces two young Romans: Gaius (Gaius Julius Caesar), son of a senator and born of noble-blood, and blood-friend Marcus (Marcus Brutus), son of a high-class prostitute (Servilia Caepionis).
[edit] Plot summary
It tells of the harsh realities of life in the Ancient Rome, not only for the nobilitas but also for the slave population, who revolt and kill Gaius' father during a siege on their villa.
As the two boys begin their careers (Gaius as a senator and Marcus as Legionnaire), a political war is being played out in the senate, between two powerful Generals: Cornelius Sulla and Gaius' uncle Gaius Marius.
[edit] Full Summary
Emperor: The Gates of Rome, is about the youth of Julius Caesar, the most famous Roman who has ever lived. It starts with Gaius Caesar, who is Julius Caesar before he changes his name into Julius in honour of his KIA father, and Marcus, who is adopted by Gaius’ parents. The two young boys grow up with each other and have a deep going friendship for one another, which will be tested numerous times in their lives. When they are old enough to participate in the legions, Gaius’ father hires the best trainer he can find for them, Renius an old gladiator who has never been beaten. Though through this fighter they master the art of the blade, it’s not without pain; they are almost being drowned and even killed. Near the end of their training, Gaius is seriously injured by Renius in a traing accident, but is saved by the nomadic Cabera, an old man of many talents, healing and archery amongst them. Marcus then proceeds to try his hand at the gladius and renders Renius left arm numb. A few days later, a slave revolt erupts in Rome and spreads to the estates. The Julius estate is hardpressed. Gaius's father is lost in battle as wave after wave of rogue slaves attempt to storm the main compound of the estate. Although young and deadly boy boths are injured in the fight, Marcus due to being almost overrun and watching for Renius, and Julius because he was still weak. Tubruk, the estate manager and former gladiator(also once trained by Renius) is also hurt. The fighting gets so intense, even the women on the state are forced to "mop-up" the slaves who attmept to flank the defenders. One partcular young woman, Alexandria, performs well, though ot suited to her task. Afterwards Gaius formally assumes his fathers name Julius. To avoid getting his lands and holding taken from him due to inexperience, Julius decides to cast his lot in with his mothers brother. Thereafter Gaius gets to know his uncle Marius better who is the consul of Rome, which you could relate a president nowadays. But there is one who wants the position of Marius dearly, that person is senator Sulla but Marius plots a scheme which sends Sulla off to Greece to put a stop to a rebellion there. During this time of peace Gaius lives the good wealthy life a young man in Rome, visiting every party possible, while Marcus, with recoommendations from Marius, has gained himself a position in a legion, which gets send off to the outer eastern border of the Roman Empire. Julius even weds the Cornelia Cinna days before the event which is described in detail hearafter. Months later Sulla gets back from a glorious victory in Greece but Marius has declared the general to a traitor and thus an enemy of Rome. This leads to that Marius needs to defend Rome with his own legion while Sulla tries to conquer it with the army he has taken to Greece. Marius is defeated due to a scheme of Sulla, he infiltrated Rome and sent his men to charge Marius from behind when he was preoccupied and ill-guarded. Marius holdings are seized, his legion disgraced and disbanded, and his wife commits suicide, but not before freeing Alexandria, the Julius household slave of whom ownership Julius passed to Marius. Because of his relation to Marius, Julius should be killed as well but Sulla spares him and sends him off to a distant province in Egypt, where he can't be off any threat to him, which is where the novel ends.
[edit] ====Note: I would normally write a better summary, but all I did here was come in and clear up some of the glaring errors and lack of important detail (in the existing summary) as I saw fit. I did not fix grammar, spelling, or punctuation, so if in reading you notice two different writing styles or if I contributes to any of the problems I listed, you have my apologies. -Cain Aleksandrovich====
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
At times, Iggulden drifts away from historical accuracy for the purposes of storytelling, although he does explain his reason in an Historical Note at the end of the book. His main defence is that we don't have enough historical information especially of Caesar's childhood but still he makes huge compromises. For example in his book Caesar is the only child, when actullally he had 2 sisters and brother.
The tagline on the front of the paperback version of Gates of Rome read:
"If you liked Gladiator you'll love Emperor" - Sunday Times
This loose association with the hugely popular film Gladiator, along with excellent reviews, helped Gates of Rome reach number two in the Sunday Times Best-seller list.
