Through the story of two families, this novel retells the story of Rome from its beginning to the beginning of the empire. In each chapter, the reader is introduced to a different time and different characters. On this point, the novel feels a little like reading a short stories book; you barely have the time to know the characters that already, you’re leaving them for new ones. Rather than telling their story in the context of Rome, the author uses them to tell the story of Rome.

The novel insists a lot on the religion and politics of ancient Rome, and although it could be a good introduction to those topics for those who have never studied them, it can be, at times, a little “heavy” on the facts. There again, Saylor uses the characters to tell Rome’s story in discussions that sometimes seem less than natural. I’m personally really interested in the mythology and religion, and I really enjoyed to read about the different gods and their “arrival” in Rome’s society.

Mostly, the facts seem right although I would certainly not recommend this as a history book! It is still, of course, historical fiction. But it certainly makes for an interesting read. ( )

Would recommend to someone who enjoys historical fiction and mythology. ( )

Starting with the earliest days of Rome (even before Romulus & Remus), Roma winds its way like the Tiber river through the history of the Roman empire. The novel is structured as a series of vignettes, from before Roma was city up until the period shortly after Caesar's death. The novel works well as fictionalized history - if you want to way to explore the history of Rome and the early days of the Roman empire, in an easily accessible format, the novel works well. As fiction, I found it far less compelling than Saylor's Gordianus the Finder novels. Those novels have a wonderful main character & supporting cast, and can deliver information about the time period without that being the primary attraction. At times Roma feels a bit too edifying - the frequent changes of time periods and characters make it hard to form any emotional attachments to the players. At the same time, it's a very enjoyable read, and provides an easily accessible view into the history of the city. The maps which proceed each shift of time period are particularly interesting, as they show how the city grew, with the topography well-interwoven with the text.

One wonders if another volume might follow - while the assassination of Caesar makes a nice breakpoint for a very long novel, there are many interesting characters yet to take the stage - Nero, Caligula, Claudius.... ( )

Having had a 'thing' for the history of Rome, and the Roman empire, for a long time, I grabbed Roma off the shelf the minute I saw it. A true impulse buy, and I was satisfied if only in terms of content.

I appreciated the intertwining of myth with 'known' fact, particularly in the first half of the book. The section on Remus and Romulus was especially entertaining, and the portrayals of ritual and rites throughout the book informative. I liked the inter-linking of the two primary, fictitious families, and the shifting significance of the Fascinus (the book's family heirloom, passed down through generations) over the course of the book.

Sadly, though, I felt the latter half was rushed in most places, mainly in the last three chapters. Whole years went missing within the chapters themselves. One moment, a character is facing disaster due to his political views, and on the next page - he's either dead or redeemed 10 years later. That was disconcerting, and left me really wanting to know what happened in those 'missing' years. I'm not sure why Saylor felt the urge to rush - perhaps it was due to the length of the book, or the bulk of information surrounding the formation of the age of Caesars. In any case, the rush was unfortunately obvious.

My biggest letdown concerns the writing itself; I found Saylor's style extremely dull. The events, and the simple fact that this was a reconstruction of ancient Rome, kept me reading. The characters, well, I described it elsewhere as "'Rome' as performed by the Two by Four Company." Wooden as...wood. I'm aware that a certain amount of info-dumping was necessary, but the repeated formula at the start of most sections of 'elder questioning young man/boy on the recent history of Rome' became tedious quickly. Likewise, characters informing each other on things that the other characters would already know, for the benefit of the reader's knowledge, felt clumsy and added to the character's woodenness. The section about the Gaul invasion, and the Vestal Virgins, was easily my favourite as I felt some spark of life in the featured Vestal Virgin.

For all the disappointment regarding the characters, and the inevitable need to 'inform' readers of the events of the time, I got a lot out of it. However, these factors contributed to a certain relief when I finished the book.