Rome's Lost Son: The heart-pounding bestselling Roman epic, perfect for fans of GLADIATOR: 6 (Vespasian, 6)

As always this book takes you back in time, to the intrigue of Rome, the political manoeuvring and senseless killing

Enjoyable if a little slow getting started. I'm on to the next instalment to maintain a level of continuity. A good series to follow.

This is volume 6 of Vespasian’s fictionalised adventures. As the author mentions in his historical note, we know virtually nothing about Vespasian for about a decade following his return from Britannia. Rather than assume that he retired to his estates at the end of his two-month period as a consul, Fabbri has chosen to keep him deeply involved and at the centre of the political machinations and struggles for the succession of Emperor Claudius. The other obvious advantage and merit of such a choice is to allow the author to describe and portray Rome’s often tense relations with the Parthian Empire and its rivalry and competition over who would control the strategic highlands of Armenia.This choice is, of course, part of an author license when writing a piece of historical fiction. It makes for a more interesting story and it is also something that Fabbri has done in some of his previous volumes dealing with Vespasian’s earlier years, and done quite successfully. Making this choice does however also mean running a bit of a risk by making the hero a bit too central or having him go through adventures and ordeals which he survives rather miraculously. The main example here is the hero’s “enforced stay” as a hostage of a satellite King who is vassal to the Parthian monarch and his somewhat implausible escape and return to Rome. Also a bit hard to believe, although just about possible, is the somewhat Machiavellian plot to provoke a Parthian-Roman war, although I will not mention anything more with regards to this in order to avoid spoilers.The pieces I happened to prefer where those related to the power struggle surrounding Claudius’ last years. Here again, the author has make a number of choices, one of which being to depict the ageing Emperor as completely inadequate, and a drunkard in addition. Whether he really was so incapable is debatable but, again, this is the author’s choice. It is a rather plausible one given the grievous political mistakes that he made, mistakes that the author clearly show as being tantamount to suicide.Another key feature and quality of this book is the depiction of characters and the description of the behaviours adopted by some of the historical protagonists. Two in particular – the overambitious and power hungry Agrippina (grand-daughter of Germanicus) and the cruel and unpleasant comedian Nero, her “darling” and rather unbalanced son, are particularly lurid. Nero’s reign started auspiciously and the new and young Princeps was rather popular to begin with. There was little, if anything, allowing anyone to predict how and to what extent it would degenerate and Vespasian would have been very unlikely to be in any position to “predict” this, although the outcome of the succession and Britannicus’ (the legitimate heir to Claudius and his son) rather limited future under the new regime was probably more obvious and are very vividly described.There are also a few little glitches, such as the assignment of five cohorts of auxiliary infantry, all of which being eight hundred strong. This number does not correspond to a cohort’s size, not even a double sized one (the theoretical number would be more likely to be 960). Also, there were relatively few double sized auxiliary cohorts across the Empire and I have never heard of five of them being bunched together within the same province.Having mentioned all this, you could start believed that I had mixed views about this book. This would be far from the truth because it is a rather superb and exciting read. For me, it turned out to be one of these books which I was simply unable to put down once I got started. Four stars.

The story continues.

Robert Fabbri's fictional account of the life of Vespasian gets better and better. This, the sixth volume, covers the end of Claudius' reign, and the very beginning of Nero's, with Vespasian heavily involved again. As the author admits, much of his early life is lost to history, and indeed, the period between about 51 and 63 is almost a complete blank, so he has made a conscious decision to fill it fictionally, around real events. And he has done it very well so far.The book follows Vespasian as he is Consul at the beginning, through various adventures, most of which are assigned to him in the hope that he will, at least, be far away from Rome, or hopefully, might never come back. The bones of the story are real history, and the author hangs the fiction very lightly around these events in a believable way. Vespasian himself has become a very real character, and his progression from idealistic youth to pragmatic politician with an eye for the future has been slow and perfectly paced over the series. Although loyal to those that matter to him, he has become the person that all in his position must have been to survive.Like the earlier books, this is well-written, well-paced, with outstanding characters. I particularly enjoy the way that Fabbri breaks up his story; the books don't really have a definite beginning or end, each volume runs into the next, and there are a number of plot lines that run over several volumes. In this episode, one or two threads come to and end, and one or two others have developed further which will clearly play an important part in future instalments.I look forward to the next volume.

I am always a sucker for a good story well told. Returning to Robert Fabbri after a long gap, I was soon drawn into the convoluted world of First Century Imperial Rome. Sometimes the explanations of the plots lain by freedmen secretaries and senior players at court get a bit over complicated but the pace is always good and the characters well drawn. There is sometimes a lack of authentic detail of certain aspects of Roman culture but at least the author creates an atmosphere that draws pedants like me beyond such minor criticism. I have read every book in the Vespasian saga so that says it all. Some descriptions of the brutal aspects of Roman life and religious practices may offend or upset some but that was Rome, that was the way of the world then. Read and enjoy. The suspense is not ruined for me, knowing how things turned out for the Flavian dynasty.

About a quarter of the way through this book so far. Having read all previous books in the Vespasian series I can confirm this one continues to keep the reader enthralled as did the others. The way the fictional part is weaved in with the facts prevents it becoming just a history book and gives an impression of what life was like for Roman citizens and their conquered peoples who, in the main had been dealt with in quite ruthless fashion .While you have to admire the discipline and resolve of the Legionaries they them selves were just tools to be used by the elite few in power who craved power and wealth , not a lot changes !However this series does paint a picture of Vespasian being a man with some conscience ,who was a good general , but though at times he could be ruthless,but appeared to treat indigenous conquered people fairly and with tolerance if they complied with the new Roman ideas being introduced.