Empire by Steven Saylor is a sequel to Roma and picks up with the same family at the end of the reign of Augustus. Saylor mentions in the author’s note that this is one of the more documented times in ancient history. There is a substantial number of authors and historians at this time, so we have great records of all the major figures of the time, often from numerous sources. But, I think all the detail might have caused problems for Saylor.

The Pinarius family is an ancient aristocratic family lineage that has been around the power players of Rome since the beginning. As the book starts, they are sliding down the aristocratic chain due to being on the outs with Augustus, but hoping for their fortunes to turn. Going forward, they are present with all the emperors going forward. We hit all the highlights of Roman depravity and history. The creation of major architectural landmarks such as the Colosseum (known at the time as the Flavian Amphitheater) is shown as well. If you’re not familiar with the emperors and their place in history, the book does a decent job of letting you know the politics and heredity of the emperors. We also get to see some of the beginnings of Christianity and the impact of Judaism within Roman society.

But the problems with the book are two fold. First, since there is so much history and documentation of this time, Saylor feels the need to include it all. There is way too much discussion of events that activities that slow the book down and make it feel like it is dragging. The second is the characters are not that interesting. When we have twins who go down different paths (one goes the traditional Roman aristocratic path to the Senate and the other becomes a Christian) we follow the less interesting one. I understand why Saylor followed the traditional twin, because he was closer to the historical characters (emperors, senators, poets, etc.), but following a Christian in the early years of Christianity sounds a lot more interesting to me.

Overall it’s a decidedly mediocre book that isn’t up to the level of Roma or Saylor’s Gordianus series. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone but the most hardcore Rome enthusiast.