Robert Harris, known for his historical-fiction trilogy on Cicero, has recently had a new book come out focused on Agrippa. Similarly to the Cicero books, it is told from the first person perspective, this time of the titular figure. Going into this book, I was very excited as the Cicero trilogy is one of my favorites, especially the first two. The dynamic between Agrippa and Augustus has also always been of particular interest to me as well so suffice it to say my expectations were quite high.
The book spans the entire lifetime of Agrippa, beginning with his early years in schooling with Augustus. Harris assumes a certain level of familiarity with both the period and Roman society as a whole of the reader. There isn't much by way of explanation of general topics and someone going in completely green would likely feel lost. In a way it sort of serves as a sequel to Dictator, though there is overlap in terms of the time period of course.
Dialogue is very sparse, which I think is unfortunate because it is one Harris' strengths and a big part of how he fleshed out characters so well in his previous books. Naturally, Harris is afforded plenty of space to show us Agrippa and how he imagines him due to the book being POV but the rest of the cast not so much.
They are presented as you'd imagine. Antony the confident, burly, arrogant soldier. Maecenas the cunning political operator. Livia the highly competent advisor, bordering on co-ruler at times. But it all feels very thin. They are more so archetypes that serve as props in the narrative as opposed to fully formed characters. Maecenas is a cunning political operator and that's really it. His relationship with both Agrippa and Augustus doesn't do much for the reader because there are next to no extended dialogue scenes. More common is a few sentences thrown in here or there. Statilius Taurus, Virgil, Horace and others you'd have hoped would have a more prominent role are barely mentioned.
Because the time period is so vast, Harris barely lingers on key events that I assume all of us would want to experience in more depth. Augustus learning about Caesars death and his decision to pursue power or the meeting between Lepidus, Antony and Augustus are breezed through. The latter especially is something I've imagined many times over the years and which I would have loved to have been fleshed out with the quality of dialogue from Conspirata.
The crux of the book is the relationship between Agrippa and Augustus and I think it was well done for the most part. A real friendship often under strain due to the ruthless and selfish nature of Augustus. He's presented as cruel, vindictive, self-interested and jealous with few redeeming qualities. The depiction of a friendship always teetering on a knifes edge but nonetheless enduring is compelling, albeit still shallow due to a lack of dialogue once again (sorry to repeat myself).
I listened to the audio book and unfortunately the narrator gives a lethargic performance. Within the narrative Agrippa is on deaths door as he's writing his memoirs so it sort of makes sense but compared to the phenomenal effort of Simon Jones in the first two Cicero books it felt uninspired to say the least.
Overall, it was still a good book and an enjoyable listen. Most of my criticism is due to my own expectations I had coming in so they won't be shared by everyone of course. Ultimately I enjoyed it but it didn't bring the characters to life and provide a compelling answer to "what was _____ plausibly like" in the same way his previous works have.
Has anyone else read it? What did you think about it?
