Cicero comes alive.

• Author: Normey, Robert
• Position: Law and Literature - Imperium - Book review

"Rome, stick to Rome, my dear fellow, and live in the limelight!"

Cicero, letter to Caelius, 26 June, 50 BC

Historical fiction is often unwieldy due to the potential to overload the work with masses of research that are not well integrated into the narrative. This has the effect of smothering the central characters. Robert Harris avoids this problem in Imperium (2006). He brilliantly brings Marcus Tullius Cicero and other Roman stalwarts to life. The first volume of a projected trilogy, the novel traces the rise and major triumphs of Cicero in the time of the Roman Republic. Harris, who has written several best-selling historical thrillers, including the excellent Pompeii, here invites us into the world of the Roman Republic in the first century BC. We are given considerable insight into the lives of the main characters, but are also given the opportunity to learn about Roman oratory, especially in the law courts, the role of slaves in Roman society, and the workings of the Senate.

Tiro, who was the confidential secretary of Cicero for 36 years, tells the story. During those years, Tiro recorded Cicero's speeches, his letters, and his poetry. Tiro captured the torrent of words through his invention of shorthand. He tells us that his shorthand system is still used in the Senate, and that this invention was recognized to be so valuable that he was awarded a modest pension in recognition of his service to the state.

Tiro tells us that it is of power and the man that he shall sing. He states:

"By power I mean official, political power--what we know in Latin as imperium--the power of life and death as vested by the state in an individual. Many hundreds of men have sought this power, but Cicero was unique in the history of the Republic in that he pursued it with no resources to help him apart from his own talent. He was not, unlike Metellus or Hortensius, from one of the great aristocratic families with generations of political favours to draw on at election time. He had no mighty army to back up his candidacy as did Pompey or Caesar. He did not have Crassus's vast fortune to grease his path. All he had was his voice--and by sheer effort of will, he turned it into the most famous voice in the world."

The introductory chapter recounts how Tiro, a household slave, was 24 when he entered Cicero's service. Cicero was then a young advocate of 27. Cicero was at that time far from being the powerful lawyer and senator he was to become, ultimately Rome's...