‘The Last Caesar’ is a historical fiction novel by debuting
author Henry Venmore-Rowland, published this year. Being a classics student who
loves Ancient Rome I’ve read my fair share of historical fiction set across the
period. This particular novel takes place in a short but overlooked time in
Imperial Roman history, later to be known as ‘The Year of the Four Emperors’,
so of course I snapped it up!
==---Plot---==
Our protagonist is Aulus Caecina Severus, a former Roman
hero in Britannia but now a seemingly disgraced old man, writing his memoirs
that look back on this period of huge political upheaval.
It’s 68 AD. Emperor Nero has no heir to succeed him, leaving
the future of the Empire open to the influential and ambitious. Serving in
Spain as governor, Severus is summoned to join in a rebellion against Nero led
by the ageing Senator Galba. Set on a mission of treachery and danger by checking
a Gallic army who are part of the resistance, Severus must overcome many
obstacles to paving the way for his patron’s claim to rule. But as the
situation grows more complex, Severus’s skills and loyalty are tested to the
limit. Are his actions in the interests of Rome, or himself?
==---Opinion---==
‘The Year of the Four Emperors’ was, as you can imagine, a treacherous
and bloody period as ever within Roman history with figures trying to put
themselves on the throne with the support of their armies. Venmore-Rowland
conveys the political struggle well within his novel, as we see people of
Severus’s standing being unsatisfied with the infamous Nero and fearing for
their lives, so they are more than happy to support the wealthy, influential
Galba as a potential successor. However Severus’s task is never easy and he is
faced with his own fair share of enemies and backstabbing throughout the novel,
which do catch you by surprise. The memoir writing style is a bit awkward at
first but I got used to it and the moments of hindsight or wishful thinking do
give the narrative an edge.
My main problem with the book however is that most of the key
historical moments historically take place beyond Severus’s perspective; we
only hear of Nero’s suicide or Galba’s movements towards Rome because Severus
is based on Spain and then Gaul, which is outside the main political action.
Although Severus’s course of events are somewhat crucial to the main gist of
the rebellion he is still outside of what’s happening in the centre of it all
and I felt like I was missing out on what really went on if the main character
was someone who’d been much closer to Galba during his journey.
Severus himself is a flawed, but still balanced and
likeable, protagonist. At the start of the novel he is a veteran of the
Boudicca campaign but is, as his older self remarks, a bit naive with regards
to politics. He helps Galba through the promise
of glory and popularity for his family, especially as Galba gives him a crucial
role and later in the novel he gets and elevation as commander of a legion. Yet
it’s clear he is more self-interested than his defence for his actions being “for
the good of Rome” imply. He does become more disillusioned by the end due to
events that I can’t spoil here, so he is well-developed. Some of the choices made
at the end of the novel don’t make him sympathetic to me, but he’s still
understandable.
The supporting characters are mostly made up of real life
figures of the time, although personally I found the fictional ones (such as the
Gallic warriors Severus befriends) the most interesting as our lead character
really bonds with them. Most are developed well, although some are little more
than cameos to remind historical buffs that ‘Hey! You know this guy? Well,
Severus knew him too!’ Examples of this are the notable Roman commander
Agricola, a friend of Severus who is solely introduced to help him on his way
in Gaul, and even Galba himself disappears into a third of the way into the
book. However, given that the scope of this book only covers the rule of the
first of the Four Emperors (and mentions the second and third) I guess we will
see them again in the sequel(s)...?
==---Overall---==
‘The Last Caesar’ is definitely a recommended read for lovers of
Ancient Rome. It keeps to the facts and whilst there is the occasional
info-dump I still found them interesting to read rather than being skippable. I
just wish it had a larger scope of the events going on, and across the whole year
rather than a fraction of it. It seems as if the publishers are relying on a
sequel to this book despite my expectations. Given this book is 312 pages long I
felt some more time could’ve been covered, but that’s just me, I guess.
4.0 Stars out of 5.
Review of library copy only.
Image from Goodreads.
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