- Paperback: 341 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Original edition (May 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312556160
- ISBN-13: 978-0312556167
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #432,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
In ancient Rome, ambitious citizens who aspired to political power, to become one of the ruling elite—a senator, had to follow what was known as “The Course of Honor.” This course had only one unbreakable rule: a senator is forbidden to marry a slave, even a freed slave. When the soldier Vespasian meets an interesting girl in the imperial palace, he doesn’t know she is a slave in the household of the imperial family. But he is inexorably drawn in by her intelligence and charisma. Yet as Vespasian slowly rises from near-obscurity and as emperor after emperor plays out their own deadly, seductive games of lust and conquest, the future is something no one could imagine. No one could believe that a country-born army man might win the throne—no one, that is, except a slave girl who, with the future Emperor, begins a daring course of honor of her own.
About the Author
Lindsey Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, England. After taking an English degree at Oxford and working for the civil service for thirteen years, she “ran away to be a writer.” Her internationally bestselling novels featuring ancient Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco include Venus in Copper, The Iron Hand of Mars, Nemesis and Alexandria. She is also the author of Rebels and Traitors, set during the English Civil War. Davis is the recipient of the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, the highest accolade for crime writers, as well as the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award and the Authors' Club Best First Novel award.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An honourable course,
By Iain S. Palin (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Course of Honour (Paperback)
Flavius Vespasianus was one of Rome's better, if less glamorous, emperors - not mad, not bad, and not interested in expansionist military adventures. He came to power as the "last general standing" at the end of the short and brutal civil wars that followed the death of Nero, and proved an excellent safe pair of hands to restore the political and financial stability of the Empire. His upbringing had fitted him well for this. Vespasian was born into a noble family that had seen better days and was heading towards poverty (at least by noble standards). He advanced slowly through the "cursus honorum" or "course of honour", the careful laid out and regulated system of promotions and elected offices that led to high political office in Rome. He proved a capable general and a good and intelligent leader of men, and these qualities finally brought him to the throne where, in a sense, his real work began.This book is a fictionalised biography but it is also a romance, a tale of the enduring love between Vespasian and Antonia Caenis, who became his mistress but whom he could never marry because of the social gulf between them. An enjoyable, readable, and informative tale that generates real affection for the main characters in the heart of the reader and throws light on a period of Roman history not always given much attention.
4.0 out of 5 stars
An honourable course,
By Iain S. Palin (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Course of Honour (Paperback)
Flavius Vespasianus was one of Rome's better, if less glamorous, emperors - not mad, not bad, and not interested in expansionist military adventures. He came to power as the "last general standing" at the end of the short and brutal civil wars that followed the death of Nero, and proved an excellent safe pair of hands to restore the political and financial stability of the Empire. His upbringing had fitted him well for this. Vespasian was born into a noble family that had seen better days and was heading towards poverty (at least by noble standards). He advanced slowly through the "cursus honorum" or "course of honour", the careful laid out and regulated system of promotions and elected offices that led to high political office in Rome. He proved a capable general and a good and intelligent leader of men, and these qualities finally brought him to the throne where, in a sense, his real work began.This book is a fictionalised biography but it is also a romance, a tale of the enduring love between Vespasian and Antonia Caenis, who became his mistress but whom he could never marry because of the social gulf between them. An enjoyable, readable, and informative tale that generates real affection for the main characters in the heart of the reader and throws light on a period of Roman history not always given much attention.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Isn't it romantic...,
By Lilly Flora "by Lilo Drandoff" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Course of Honour (Paperback)
This is an amazingly sweet book.Two people, one a bad tempered angry slave and one the unimportant son of a provincial tax collector meet when the man and his brother get lost in the imperial palace in Rome. They come across a young slave girl cooking sausages and an attraction is formed for life between the young man and the slave. Vespasian is not an important man in Rome when he meets Caenis. In fact, though he is later and senator and she is later a freewoman, there is a long span of time where her connections to the royal family make her important than he is. But they loved each other deeply their whole lives in spite of their long separation of twenty years when he married, and she even helped him raise his children. When Nero died and Vespasian took the purple in a military coup, he has his beloved move into the palace with him-defying all social conventions to be with her. The absolute only thing I think could have made this book more sweetly romantic would be Vespasian overruling the law that members of the senate couldn't marry freedwoman. But hey, perhaps that was a more drastic step that it seems it would have been. Roman society confuses me, but in this book it is clear, wonderful, corrupt and a place where even social opposites can fall in love. Five stars. I'm really looking forward to Lindsey Davis' new book, Rebels and Traitors which is about the second English civil war and comes out in January. For more reading on Vespasian's younger son corrupt and disastrous rule of Rome check out The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie. 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good history, bad romance,
By P. Whitlock - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Course of Honour (Paperback)
341 pages to cover 70 years of a very interesting man and his times isnt nearly enough, and it shows. The book is narrated by and focusses on the ex-slave Caenis rather than Vespasian directly and as a result much of the history is given in brief doses of lecture rather than portrayed. Interesting stuff though!What is not interesting is Caenis. A moody, angry, stubborn, unlikable girl who's defining characteristic seems to be avoiding living any type of life whatsoever, and lashing out constantly at Vespasian anytime he makes an appearance. I cant imagine why he is interested in her, or why the entire City of Rome seems to have the impression to be rude to her is unforgivable when she is nothing but rude to him, and avoids everyone else but her lively friend Veronica, like the plague. This is most definately not a Falco novel, nor is she Helena Justina, more the pity. I love the Falco books and here the author does a good job again with Vespasian in his younger days but thats about it. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lindsey Davis novel,
By R. Larson - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Course of Honour (Paperback)
This is a fairly gripping non-Falco historical novel. The characters are gripping and the action moves along... It's interesting that it's described as a novel about the relation between Vespasian and a slave who's described as 'a bad-tempered slavey' and who eventually becomes the prosperous freedwoman Caenis [...]; although they spend fairly little time together there is a constant emotional connection.
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