Robert Harris

A Novel of Ancient Rome

Imperium

Será possível uma verdadeira democracia sobreviver quando uma nação se torna uma superpotência? Primeiro volume de uma trilogia que nos transporta até aos últimos quarenta anos da Roma republicana, Imperium segue as carreiras e as vidas dos homens que lutaram por a governar, entre eles Pompeu, Crasso, César e sobretudo Cícero. Através dos olhos de Tirão, secretário pessoal deste último, materializa-se diante de nós um retrato vivo e repleto de suspense do mundo violento, traiçoeiro, corrupto e labiríntico da cena política romana, e em especial do homem que conquistou Roma apenas com o poder da própria voz, sem apoio militar, sem descender de uma grande família aristocrata e sem dispor de uma enorme riqueza. Prometedor advogado e orador brilhante, astuto, ambicioso, inteligente, mas também sensível, vulnerável e inseguro, Cícero é apenas um jovem senador quando o encontramos no início destas páginas. Porém, ao longo das batalhas que trava no Senado, nos tribunais e nas eleições e das intrigas nos bastidores, assistimos à sua ascensão determinada, implacável e feroz até obter imperium - o mais alto cargo da república romana, o sumo poder estatal. Com o esplendor e a sordidez de Roma como pano de fundo, esta é uma obra sobre a natureza intemporal do poder: a forma discutível como é adquirido, manipulado e exercido.

ROMA - SÉCULO I A. C.

IMPERIUM

Nelson Zagalo

“Imperium” (2006) é uma obra de ficção histórica com capacidade para nos envolver nas tramas da época, entretendo-nos enquanto vamos aprendendo sobre a época, neste caso o século I a.C. na Roma Antiga. Robert Harris escolheu como personagem principal Marco Túlio Cícero, o grande orador, mas principalmente o senador romano que mais escritos nos deixou e que perduraram até aos nossos dias. São esses escritos que permitem aos historiadores ter um acesso privilegiado a uma época já com 2000 anos, assim como aos romancistas aceder a matéria direta para o seu trabalho de recriação. Harris nada arrisca na forma, limita-se a descrever a ação, situando no espaço-tempo e gerindo conflitos conhecidos da história, criando suspense que nos faz virar páginas, que nos levam a descobrir os porquês, usando alguns comportamentos sociais como adereços, mas deixando praticamente de fora os mundos interiores de cada personagem.

O cerne do livro, por ser de Cícero que se trata, é a política e a justiça. Cícero no papel de advogado serve que nem uma luva no papel de detetive à descoberta de culpados, os malvados que perturbam o sentido da democracia romana. Harris usa um artífice que torna o mundo mais interessante e facilitador do ficcionar, colocando-nos a ver Roma a partir do ponto de vista de Tiro, um servo de Cícero, que relata em modo diário as aventuras de Cícero, dada a sua proximidade enquanto secretário e escriba. Em particular, esta abordagem permite dar a conhecer parte das estruturas sociais, classes e etiqueta, ainda que com alguma superficialidade.

Na forma, ao contrário do tradicional em literatura, a primeira parte do romance é a mais bem conseguida, atingindo um clímax a meio do livro tão intenso que faz com que a restante metade não passe de uma repetição do processo, dedicado a um outro caso de investigação legal. Por isso, tendo gostado de ler, não me deixou com grande apetite de continuar com os restantes dois volumes.


Publicado no VI: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...

Emmett

Excellent court and political drama set in Ancient Rome. Cicero is clever and amusing, and his slave Tiro doesn't just function as a frame narrative but has merits of his own, making them both worth rooting for. It's wonderful that it is a series and I'm excited to read the next one.

When Tiro, the confidential secretary of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events which will eventually propel his master into one of the most famous courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Cicero, a brilliant young lawyer and spellbinding orator, determined to attain imperium - supreme power in the state. This is the starting-point of Robert Harris's most accomplished novel to date. Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, it takes us inside the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics, to describe how one man - clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable - fought to reach the top. 'Sometimes it is foolish to articulate an ambition too early - exposing it prematurely to the laughter and scepticism of the world can destroy it before it is even properly born. But sometimes the opposite occurs, and the very act of mentioning a thing makes it suddenly seem possible, even plausible. That was how it was that night. When Cicero pronounced the word "consul" he planted it in the ground like a standard for us all to admire. And for a moment we glimpsed the brilliant, starry future through his eyes, and saw that he was right: that if he took down Verres, he had a chance; that he might - just - with luck - go all the way to the summit...'

Imperium (Book One)

Félix Vanneste

A tale inspired by the writings of Tiro, Cicero's confidential secretary, traces the life of the ancient Roman orator from his beginnings as a young lawyer through his competitions with Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus in the political arena.

Hooman Rostami

Nav Singh

Klaus Eck

Alan

Dimitris Papastergiou

Georgie K

From the bestselling author of Fatherland and Pompeii, comes the first novel of a trilogy about the struggle for power in ancient Rome. In his “most accomplished work to date” (Los Angeles Times), master of historical fiction Robert Harris lures readers back in time to the compelling life of Roman Senator Marcus Cicero. The re-creation of a vanished biography written by his household slave and righthand man, Tiro, Imperium follows Cicero’s extraordinary struggle to attain supreme power in Rome. On a cold November morning, Tiro opens the door to find a terrified, bedraggled stranger begging for help. Once a Sicilian aristocrat, the man was robbed by the corrupt Roman governor, Verres, who is now trying to convict him under false pretenses and sentence him to a violent death. The man claims that only the great senator Marcus Cicero, one of Rome’s most ambitious lawyers and spellbinding orators, can bring him justice in a crooked society manipulated by the villainous governor. But for Cicero, it is a chance to prove himself worthy of absolute power. What follows is one of the most gripping courtroom dramas in history, and the beginning of a quest for political glory by a man who fought his way to the top using only his voice—defeating the most daunting figures in Roman history.

Daniel Feldt

Simon Lund Larsen

Jonas Lincoln

Izza

Sara Piteira 

Rory O'K

Medeiros

Patrick Baumann

Phileas Fogg

Jon Noronha

Johannes Deva-Koch

nico alexander

En 71 avant J.-C., la République romaine est déchirée par les ambitions rivales et le sénat est le théâtre de tous les complots. Tandis que dans le sud Crassus mate Spartacus et ses esclaves en révolte, et qu'en Espagne Pompée lutte contre les rebelles de Sertorius, à Rome, un jeune sénateur, Marcus Tullius Cicéron, rêve lui aussi d'accéder à l'imperium, le pouvoir politique suprême. Mais sans fortune ni naissance, ce brillant avocat ne peut compter que sur son éloquence pour réussir. Or se présente une affaire qui pourrait bien servir ses desseins : un homme lui demande de le défendre contre Gaius Verrès, le redouté gouverneur de Sicile, qui l'aurait odieusement spolié. L'irrésistible ascension de Cicéron a commencé...

Quentin de Quelen

Of all the great figures of Rome, none was more fascinating than Marcus Cicero. Brilliant lawyer and orator, famous wit and philosopher; he launched himself, at twenty-seven, into the treacherous world of Roman politics, determined to attain imperium, the supreme power in the state. Beside him in his struggle to reach the office of Consul u was his confidential secretary, Tiro: the inventor of shorthand, author of numerous books, including a famous life of Cicero, which vanished in the Dark Ages. Robert Harris has recreated Tiro's lost masterpiece, to tell in vivid detail the story of Cicero's rise to power, from radical young lawyer to first citizen of Rome, competing with men such as Pompey, Caesar, Crassus and Cato. This is a world exotically different, and yet very similar, to ours; a world of Senate intrigue, electoral corruption, special prosecutors, political hostesses, in which free speech and liberty are being threatened by military adventures abroad. Harris's Cicero is an outsider; ambitious, vulnerable, highly intelligent, compassionate, frequently devious but always human - the world's first professional politician. Robert Harris: 'What makes this book unusual is not that it draws the parallel (a clich now) between the US and Rome, but that it goes back to the beginnings of what makes politics so fascinating - oratory, strategising, electioneering, manipulation of public opinion. I follow politics as others might follow football; Cicero is fascinating to me because he's the ultimate professional in the ultimate sport. It's this universality which is important.'

Imperium A Novel of Ancient Rome

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