Tribune of Rome (Vespasian 1) Hardcover – 1 May 2011

Vespasian Tribune of RomeIn recent years I have read a number of books by Ben Kane who focuses on the Roman Empire. He has written a number of fictional books around actual events if the period. I have thoroughly enjoyed them and the reignited my interest in the Roman Empire.I have looked around for similar books covering the same period and came across Robert Fabbri who has written the Vespasian series. Fabbri is a British writer who like Kane builds fictional stories around historical happenings. The one difference is that his principal character Vespasian actually existed and ruled as Emperor of Rome between 69AD and 79AD. This is the first in a series of books.Rome is no longer a Republic and now operates under the direct rule of the Emperor. It is a time of political intrigue and violence is never far away as members of the Roman elite vie for political power and personal wealth. Vespasian is an adolescent who likes working on his parents farm but is brought to Rome along with his brother in order for them to advance their careers and well-being. It involves making political choices and that means taking sides.Vespasian finds a place in a Roman Legion heading to Thracia but prior to his departure he is asked to assist his sponsor in a matter within the city of Rome. The endeavour goes well but their political opponents identify Vespasian in the process and he has to leave Rome in a hurry pursued by members of the Praetorian Guard. It is hoped that Vespasian will be able to vanish into the Roman Army he is to be part of.Once safely in the Legion Vespasian discovers that the political intrigue he experienced in Rome is just as rife in the Army. A political faction is engineering revolts in the provinces to ensure that the army is unable to intervene in their political activities in Rome. The purpose is to undermine and displace the Emperor and replace him with one of their own. Vespasian has to identify and reveal the Army spy who is orchestrating this campaign. In the meantime local tribes are rising up against Rome and thousands of lives are at risk.Fabbri obviously knows his Roman history and integrates well his fictional account into the historical reality. The political intrigue of the time is central to the story backed up by the reality of Army life and the terror and horror of his battle accounts. An excellent book which left me concluding that other books in this series will be well worth a look.

Usual formulaic Roman hero of the legions, quite a good yarn, with plenty of battle gore! If you like Scarrow you will enjoy this. Don't expect sophisticated character development or hidden, deep philosophical meanings. It's a hearty, down to earth, Boys Own story. And none tge worse for that.One thing I especially liked was the timbre of Roman lifestyle minutiae that permeated the book. Plenty of interesting historical background detail - ceremonies, consecrations, domestic slave etiquette, eating & drinkibg, and military technology - among other cultural descriptions.Worth a punt.

Love it! I'm hooked on anything Roman/Historical /Fiction.One needs a fairly strong stomach for the gore and downright cruelty but if you can get passed that it's a story that certainly holds one's interest. Builds the tension for various situations ie battles and betrayals.. It's as if the reader is with the characters. It's a trilogy and so I'm looking forward to the other two books. My only criticism is that books 2 and 3 came first and I had to wait for book 1 for a little time after.

This was, despite the bad vibes I got from a very amateurish-looking cover (I don't judge a book by it's cover, but I do judge the entire worth of the book and the cover takes a percentage of that worth), a solid opening to what I'm sure is to be a very exciting series detailing the lives of one of Rome's most interesting men.The supporting cast is excellent and the pacing is very well done. It doesn't feel too rushed or too slow. The start of the novel made me um and ah as to whether it would be capable of holding my attention, but it was more than capable of doing so. The only major gripe I have with it is the author's love of using numbers instead of letters. Writing 'there were 230 armed men' instead of 'there were two-hundred and thirty armed men' is a sin. A sin that needs to have a sacrificial goat offered forth in order for it to be cleansed. Until Robert Fabri does such, this review will garner a 4 (cover and numerical annoyances plus the slightly rocky start to the beginning kept it from being a five).

A riotous tour of a young man's foray into the Roman war machine, with politicking and intrigue running a close if not dead heated second.With many genuine historical characters taking part in this young mans adventure. The backdrop is splendid.But and this is the best bit they don't turn this into some stodgy and worthy epic. Nope this is action packed. Moves at a blistering speed and has a refreshing upbeat feel, it pulls no punches in regards to the combat and inherent violence of Roman life.The historical background only adds to the pleasure of reading this, and its delivered in a way that you don't have to scurry off too Google every other page to check something out.

Firstly when I get a book about Romes legions I want legion action second half of book had that and well done first half was setting the story and this was done quite well it is difficult to blend fact and fiction and do well the author does this in the main well I hope he can keep this up and keeps a good balance between legion action a story that has too many side plots I will try the next book and see what it is like and if has good will carry on buying.

Robert Fabbri hat mit seinem Roman dem wohl interessantesten Römer seit Caesar ein Denkmal gesetzt. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass seine Nachfolgebände ebenso flüssig geschrieben sind.Fabbri schildet den jugendlichen Flavier als einen normalen jungen Mann, der höchstens dadurch auffällt, dass es ein eigentlich zu gut für seine Zeit ist. Ein bisschen erinnert er an Marius, der auch über das Militär an die Macht kam. Ein echter self-made man also.Wir treffen Vespasian zuerst auf seinem Bauernhof. Er gerät quasi per Zufall in die große Politk und schlägt sich erstaunlich wacker. Nebenher erfährt man einiges aus dem römischen Alltagsleben. Schön herausgearbeitet ist der Kontrast zwischen relativ gesunder (fast noch republikanischer) Landluft und dem gefährlichen Leben in der imperialen Stadt.Historisch nicht verbürgt, aber durchaus denkbar ist seine frühe Begegnung mit seiner Liebe Caenis, die die Gefährtin des späteren Kaiser wird. Für Kenner der Geschichte sicher sehr amüsant ist ebenfalls seine Bekanntschaft mit dem jugendlichen Caligula (besser als Freund, denn als Feind?) Etwas zu schablonenhaft gerät allenfalls die Schilderung der Kain-Abel-Beziehung zu seinem älteren Bruder Sabinus.

Von dem Buch, das ich eher zufällig als Kindle Deal des Tages erstanden habe, bin ich ganz angetan. Erzählt wird die Geschichte des späteren römischen Kaisers Vespasian, wobei der erste Band der Serie die Zeit von seiner Geburt bis zu seiner militärischen Karriere erzählt. Der Autor hält sich dabei in vielen Punkten an die lateinischen Geschichtsschreiber und verknüpft die historischen Fakten mit einiger künstlerischer Freiheit zu einer interessanten Geschichte voller Intrigen, Kämpfe und der sprichwörtlichen römischen Dekadenz. Nebenbei werden eine Vielzahl von Elementen des römischen Alltags und der Kultur angerissen, ohne sich sehr in diesen Details zu verlieren.Etwas seltsam mutete der Versuch an, das Alter der lateinischen Sprache durch die Verwendung altenglisch anmutender Sprache (siehe ganz zu Anfang das Gebet, das Vespasians Vater spricht), jedoch lässt der Autor diesen Versuch nach den ersten Seiten des Buches dankenswerterweise ruhen. Die etwas vulgäre Sprache und die teilweise sehr blutigen Kampfschilderungen passen recht gut in die Szenerie eines doch sehr auf die düsteren Seiten der römischen Zivilisation blickenden Buches und die Schilderung eines Feldzugs, auch wenn einige Schimpfworte etwas anachronistisch anmuten. Sehr gefallen hat mir eine an die Handlung anschließende Erklärung über die Quellen des Autors, in der er erläuterte, welche Teile Fiktion sind und welche belegt sind, sowie weiterführende Literatur angibt. Ich würde das Buch mit vier Sternen bewerten.Leider enthielt die Kindle-Version des Buches recht häufige Schreibfehler (besonders Auslassungen von "in" oder "the" sowie Wortdoppelungen), die in ihrer Summe einem nicht-Muttersprachler die Lektüre doch reichlich erschweren, weil man einige Sätze aufgrund dessen mehrmals lesen muss, um herauszufinden, was der Autor eigentlich meinte. Daher ein Stern Abzug.

Da ich mich sehr für die römische Historie interessiere, stieß ich auf diesen Roman. Die römischen Details im Alltagsleben der damaligen Zeit sind sehr schön recherchiert. Ebenso die Militärgeschichte und das Waffenwesen. Es vermittelt einen anschaulichen Blick auf das Leben der Menschen und Soldaten jener Zeit. Allerdings kommt mir die Entwicklung des Protagonisten Vespasian viel zu kurz. Seine Gedanken, Ängste, Gefühle und Motivationen werden oft schlicht vergessen. Das sich ein 16-jähriger Junge vom Farmer quasi über Nacht plötzlich zum gewissenlosen Slayer in der Schlacht entwickelt, halte ich für ungeschickt verfasst. Aber trotz dieser Tatsache ist es ein netter Roman, der die Sichtweise auf das römische Leben erweitert.

I really enjoyed this first novel of the Vespasian series. It had a great plot, believable characters and a lot of action. I think that the author did an excellent job combining historical facts and fiction. So, it is an entertaining way to learn about Rome and its people.

Anyone who enjoys the SJA Turney or Simon Scarrow series of books will definitely enjoy this book. A very good mix of character devopment, historical references and action. I just hope it won't take long for the next in the series to come out.

Wunderbar geschrieben! Sehr mitreißend und schwer aus der Hand zu legen! Den anfänglichen Werdegang von Titus Flavius Vespasianus wird sehr überzeugend geschildert.

Good book with a good mix of historical facts and colourful fiction to fill in the gaps. A must read for history lovers.

so könnte Vespasian gewesen sein, ein spannender Bilderbogen der frühen Kaiserzeit aus einem interessanten Blickwinkel. Ich bin kein Historiker, lese aber viele und gern historische Romane. Nie habe ich die Römerzeit anschaulicher und glaubhafter vorgefunden.

This series has deteriorated so badly I had to come back to Book 1 to get my review up front as a warning to those contemplating reading the series.Book one stand alone was okay, maybe 3 stars but the series has gone downhill from there. Book 5 will be needing a negative star review if I even finish it. I am only half way though 5 and am debating stopping which something I rarely do with a book once I have started.I understand it is historical fiction but even being fiction credibility is seriously lacking. Book 5 in dealing with Druids is just way to far fetched to be even close to enjoyable reading. The book is an extremely poor example of historical fiction.Vespasian was one of the better Roman Emperors and the book does not do him or the reader justice.

This is basically a fictional account of the life of the future Emperor Vespasian. The story begins when he is still 16 at home with his parents. It moves quickly to Rome where he meets the love of his life Caenis, who will be his mistress until her death.Once in Rome he is quickly drawn into the intrigues of the palace where he beomes an ally of Antonia and the anti-Sejanus forces. The highpoint of his brief stay in Rome is his rescue of Caenis, Antonia's body slave and secretary, from Sejanus' mistress Livilla. During the rescue he meets the future Emperor, Caligula. Vespasian's assistance to Antonia paves the way for him to be given the post of a Military Tribune in Thrace.The story move quickly to Thrace where the Vespasion undergoes his baptism of fire in the Legions and capture and release by a Thracian warband. Ultimately he learns that his relief Cohort was betrayed by the allies of Sejanus. The books ends with an exciting battle against the Thracians.My descrptions of the battle are outstanding. Some of the best I have read including those of Simon Scarrow. The descriptions of the Roman battle techiniques and use of Cornicen to signal commands are someting I have only seen detailed in history books - never in fiction. All in all some of the best description of the Roman legions in combat.My biggest complaint is with the precosity of Vespasian. Even as a newcomer in the legion he is giving tactical advice to commanders and a Primus Pilus. While Vespasian in latter life was a great military tactician I doubt that he was so gifted at 16 nor would he have dared offer advice to senior commanders and a Primus Pilus. This appears to have no basis in fact, but rather is a fictional device to hint at the future greatness of Vespasian as a military leader.Nevertheless this is a great start to a series and certainly the author, while taking literary license in a work of fiction, nevetheless is well familiar with the original Latin Sources and use them as the skeleton on which to hang his story. I am eagerly awaiting more of this series.

Robert Fabbri has made a great start with his first novel based on Ancient Rome.The storyline flows well and his writing style allows the reader to relax and readily engage with events, characters and historical information.The author does not clutter his work with excessive historical details or names and military insignias that can at times distract from the sheer pleasure derived from reading a novel. For diehards, well versed in Roman military history, this novel may appear shallow at times. But, for first time readers of novels based on Rome this book is a good start.In the author's note Fabbri clearly states `this is a work of fiction' and as a result he has `taken some liberties with a few of the characters' and some events. By reading this first, I knew what to expect and as a result, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole novel.I will certainly purchase the second book, `Rome's Executioner', in this proposed series, when it becomes available.

A story based on the life of Titus Flavius Vespasianus. The storytelling is decent but not captivating. There are occasional info dumps of exposition, providing a reader with little to no knowledge of the Roman way of life context to unfamiliar words and customs. This drags the story down at times. There also moments when a character acts in as an almost omnipotent guide to the protagonist, which metaphorically yanked this reader out of the world the author creates.This and addition of other major figures in Roman history who appear in the tale for little reason other than that they could. The story also has small discrepancies about facts about Roman naming and Roman army conventions that didn't hurt the story but caught the eye of a history buff.All told a decent story about an exceptional person in history.

The strength of this historic fiction/action novel is in its battle passages and description of Roman military life, strategy, etc. The story of the future emperor Vespasian (age 16+ in this book) starts to grab the reader once the protagonist is firmly ensconced in a legion fighting Thracians (the enemy of the moment). His rapid elevation in authority, if not in rank, may take a little stretch of the reader's imagination, but it mostly works.Less credible, are the early stages of the book when teenage Vespasian is rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of Rome. Still these are the same sections that chronicle with some believability the complicated politics during the reign of Tiberius, when there was a lot of jockeying for succession. Also good early on are the descriptions of a Roman farm and how it was managed.This series (according to reviewers) gets better as it moves on, and i will give the next book or two a try based on the promising best parts of "Tribune of Rome."

We meet Vespasian, future emperor of Rome, when he is still a farmer. Coming to Rome in a dangerous time during the last days of Tiberius reign and the treason trials by Sejanus, Vespasian has a lot to learn about Roman politics and makes his share of mistakes.