DYNASTY: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE HOUSE OF CAESAR PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Tom Holland | 544 pages | 02 Jun 2016 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780349123837 | English | London, United Kingdom Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar PDF Book Lawsy, I feel stupid. It is hard to like Augustus in his later years simply because he becomes more concerned about his own immortality, even more than preserving the few remaining members of his family. They live in well-ordered, democratic societies and work in liberal institutions. Defiance is an action packed thriller with a fascinating twist of suspense, conspiracy and science fiction that's so believable you'll watch for it on the evening news. Holland makes it a lively history, filled with anecdote, sex, violence, and bloody revenge. Kindle Edition , pages. It was more he than anyone else who laid the groundwork for the Caesar legacy - god-like, and more and more obsessed with how the fantastical fits into reality as each generation progressed. After the Fall Book 2: Exposing the Stone. As it was, he killed many of them anyway. All save Augustus and perhaps Claudius could be fairly called monsters by our expectations of how rulers might comport themselves but this is what makes the history of the times so fascinating. Just as the Romanovs had extremely competent administrators in charge at various stages such as Catherine the Great, so Rome of the Caesars had men like Augustus and Tiberius this competence of course should perhaps be tempered by the sexual debauchery at court but for the most part all three were instrumental in expanding and maintaining their empires. Rochester Mrs. Because of his infirmities, he mostly has to travel through the eyes of others. Holland, who I have known for several years, does not just tell the story of the reign of the Julio- Claudian family. This is a vivid account of the first five Caesars of the Augustan dynasty. His heirs have been dropping like flies, and the rumors of his wife Livia poisoning them to clear the way for her son by her first marriage, Tiberius, are becoming harder to ignore. Each reflected elements of the times they emerged from. Defiance: Fall of an Empire. Dynasty definitely reads like a history book and not a novel, but a compelling one at that. Ovid, the poet concerned with the artistry of the bedroom, in particular seducing married women, is another thorn in the godly backside of Augustus. Trivia About Dynasty: The Rise To the rear is a timeline, dramatis personae, notes, bibliography and index. No sooner have they outlined how deeply Roman and Greek history are imbedded in modern culture than they have lapsed into fits of giggles at some bit of naughty classical literature. And quite a scary one, right now. Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar Writer Instead they have used a silver depressed version which though worried me at first proved resistant to touch and handling. In any case, the fusion of writing style and thrilling subject matter made this book one I could hardly put down. No trivia or quizzes yet. Either his technique here in Dynasty comes across differently as an audiobook, or the subject matter was simply more interesting, or I simply wasn't in the right mood. An energetic, compelling, and clearly written work. Literature, music, theater, you name it they had it. Holland's expansive history also has distinct shades of I Claudius, with five wonderfully vivid and in three cases, thoroughly depraved Emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—featur 44BC Description: Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review. It is early in the year. Toggle navigation. Here, Holland spends a good chunk of time on Augustus, and I believe rightfully so. I found the florid prose and the sarcastic tone a bit of a chore to read, along with his implausible capacity to know the innermost thoughts and feelings of people two thousand years dead. Our membership is worldwide, but we still like to meet up - and many members travel thousands of miles to do so. Written almost a century after the Emperor's death, it catalogues a quite sensational array of depravities and crimes. An accessible, well-researched, and lively history of the dynasty. He too pushes things too far and is exiled, which is worse than death to a man obsessed with culture. Preface Opening: AD The significance of this for you, dear reader, is that his nonfiction books are written to entertain you. While Nero and Caligula were probably the most excessive of the Caesars, probably unsurprisingly also being the last two , Rome was awash in depravity, incest, murder and pretty much whatever else you can imagine. When Tiberius offered to restore power to the consuls, senators thought with good reason that he would kill them if they took him at his word. Holland manages to combine historical accuracy with a readable account of the times. Instead of denouncing those rumors, much like Julia, he embraces them. History can be terribly dry if the author paints it so. Holland manages to infuse what can only described as a majestic subject with moments akin to Woodhousian humour, such as when using one of his echoing, semi rhetorical sentences to describe the Moors. Error rating book. Nero, though, as was his invariable habit, had gone just that little bit further in scandalising respectable opinion. The stories regarding her infidelities are numerous and legendary, but for me, the following statement attributed to her actually makes me gasp. LATER There are many ways to say that human history repeats itself, not in the details perhaps, yet the trend is evident, especially when contrasting the Cult of Personality of ancient Rome and today's egotistical monsters - ladies and gentlemen, we have learnt a big, fat Llareggub. The vast agglomeration of provinces ruled from Rome, which stretched from the North Sea to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic to the Fertile Crescent, reaped the benefits as well. Holland's wit, and fluid prose are a treat to read. Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar Reviews He has a peaceful reign but, like all the Caesars, certainly becomes ruled by rampant paranoia. Here you can find out about our conferences and chapter meetings, and can check the important dates for our Awards and magazine. Inside we find reading pages with a multitude of maps and graphs showing the family trees of the Dynasty as it progressed. Then someone else had been tracked down: someone soft-skinned, amber-haired, irresistible. The names of the chief actors will sound familiar, e. However, there are some problems with this book. That does not mean they are not serious in nature for it is obvious he has done his research. He dressed up as the goddess Venus! Holland manages to infuse what can only described as a majestic subject with moments akin to Woodhousian humour, such as when using one of his echoing, semi rhetorical sentences to describe the Moors. Two blocks of colour pictures liven things up and give faces and places to names. Dynasty continues Rubicon 's story, opening where that book ended: with the Author and historian Tom Holland returns to his roots in Roman history and the audience he cultivated with Rubicon —his masterful, witty, brilliantly researched popular history of the fall of the Roman republic—with Dynasty , a luridly fascinating history of the reign of the first five Roman emperors. The cockpit of power lay elsewhere now. There is no other period of ancient history that can compare for sheer unsettling fascination with its gallery of leading characters. Rule and misrule, excess and a marked decline in calibre as the rulers turn over. Written almost a century after the Emperor's death, it catalogues a quite sensational array of depravities and crimes. Indeed, there is no systematic condemnation of the Julio-Claudian emperors, and to my surprise I came to realise that Caligula wasn't exactly the tyrant painted by Suetonius and that Livia Augustus' wife was much probably largely responsible for the dramatic fate of the Julio-Claudian dynasy. They delight in reducing the grandest and most forbidding figures to items of fun, that while at first is seemingly the stuff of playground high jinks is to be honest often exactly what the ancients themselves did. There was no need for an emperor constantly to be showing his hand for dread of his arbitrary power to be universal across the world. The end result is that Julia is exiled to an island by her dictorial father. Many Roman ships over the years have been lost to its depths. Those are fifteen-year-old Chris Myers' words for the year. Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar Read Online Show More. View 2 comments. The lookalike, so perfect as to convince a grieving husband, was not perfect in every detail. What a wretched place it was for those involved in the machinations of the leaders: one never knew where the next blow would fall. Community Reviews. As alternative sources of power dried up, conflict passed from the battlefield to the family. This is in that sense a very Roman book, told from a Roman point of view. In any case, the fusion of writing style and thrilling subject matter made this book one I could hardly put down. Like his previous book, he synthesizes multiple ancient sources into one exciting historical narrative.