Lustrum

 

Lustrum – Robert Harris

This is the second book of Robert Harris’ “Cicero” trilogy.  I guess “trilogy” is the right word. For those that know Robert Harris know that he’s become quite the popular historical fiction writer.  I’ve probably read six or seven of his books and he has yet to disappoint me.  He has a bit of a fascination with the Roman empire and I think, as of me writing this review, he has written five books total on ancient Rome.  Fortunately for most, This one in particular doesn’t really require the reader to start with part one (Harris states so in the introduction).

Book two, like its predecessor doesn’t really tell a linear story.  In many ways, these books could serve as fodder as a television series. Marcus Tulius Cicero was a well renowned lawyer in the century preceding the life of Christ. How much of these books are fable vs. historical fact isn’t really something I can comment.  These stories are told firsthand by Cicero’s actual slave Tiro.  How Tiro ever came into service to Cicero is never mentioned yet he seems to be treated well.  He has a gift for, not only being able to scribe, but do so with a specialized form of shorthand which allows most interactions between Cicero and whomever to be recorded with painstaking accuracy and detail.  A rare accomplishment for such an ancient time.

The fact that this story is told in such a “primitive time”, believe it or not, is its main allure.  Oh sure, people didn’t have much to keep them entertained two-thousand years ago, but if there was one place to be that had much more to offer, it was the Roman empire.  The author lets us know throughout the story that such a place and people actually had quite a bit of luxuries.  It seems as though Rome in 60 B.C. probably had a lot more accoutrements than, say, most of mid Europe 1600 years later.  Unlike the stories in the New Testament that seemed to be surrounded by sand, dessert, and primitive possessions, Rome had so much more.

Yet these details are only color to the story.  The actual tales are politics.  That’s about it. One could argue much hasn’t changed.  Cicero is always planning, always scheming, aways trying to stay one step ahead of the other guy. Fortunately he’s rather smart and his schemes mostly pay off favorably. He also comes off as one of the “good” guys even though most of his motives are a far cry from what one would deem as altruistic.

There’s a lot to digest here.  It’s very hard to keep up with all of the characters. Unlike Book #1 though, at least this one has a ‘cast of characters’ at the end of the story.   It isn’t terribly necessary, though. Since this isn’t one linear story, as long as one can keep the recent actors fresh in their mind, the overall tales are quite rewarding.

If anything, this book is fascinating in that it gives us such a wonderful visual of a time so long ago.  The stories within the book are all entertaining (if you like law, politics, and all the filth that goes with it) and the setting makes it more memorable.  You may not become an immediate fan, but my guess is you’ll at least enjoy the scenery, and just might want to learn more about ancient Rome.