The Gods of War
Page 41
History is littered with the stories of men who rose through fire and battle to positions of power—only to have their empires shattered on their deaths. Caesar achieved a position in Rome that no one else had ever managed on such a scale. He used the power to introduce a new calendar, give citizenship to all doctors and teachers, and move eighty thousand of the poorest to new starts in colonies. He gave every Roman three hundred sesterces, grain, and oil. His legions were made rich to a man, with the centurions alone receiving ten thousand silver coins each. His Triumphs were unparalleled, including using the Tiber to flood a great basin on the Campus Martius for a violent “sea battle.” Tens of thousands attended his banquets. Yet perhaps his greatest good fortune was to be followed by Octavian, who took the name Gaius Julius Caesar to honor him and was only later known as Augustus. It was his steady hand that birthed the longest empire the world has ever known. Augustus was the first emperor, but Julius Caesar prepared his seat.
I have never been able to believe that Brutus took part in the murder of Julius Caesar out of a desire to restore the Republic. That was certainly the reason he gave and he had coins made that actually celebrate the events of the ides of March. I think the complex relationship with Servilia played a part, brought to a head by the fact that Julius had at last fathered an heir. As Servilia survived Julius, she also survived her son and was brought his ashes after the battle of Philippi.
One change that I have made in these pages also has a bearing on Brutus’s motives. Caesar’s daughter, Julia, was originally promised to Brutus, a union that would have helped his rise through the echelons of Roman society. Always the pragmatist, Julius broke off the engagement to give her to Pompey instead. These are more human reasons for hatred, but the strongest may be the subtleties of envy and frustration in their own relationship. The final damage may simply have been that Julius publicly forgave the betrayal at Pharsalus. For Brutus, I suspect that would have been unbearable.
On a final note, I called this series “Emperor” as I intended to show how the era of men such as Marius, Cato, Sulla, and Julius created the empire that followed. The title “Imperator” was given to any successful general. Julius may not have been crowned, but in everything but name, he was the one who brought the empire into the world.
In years to come, I may have to write the story of the aftermath of the assassination. Not a single man who stood with bloody hands in Pompey’s theater died a natural death. In its way, it is a tale as great as any other, but it will have to wait for another day.
Conn Iggulden
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONN IGGULDEN taught English for seven years before becoming a full-time writer.
He lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife and their children.
Visit his website at www.conniggulden.com.
BY CONN IGGULDEN
Emperor: The Gates of Rome
Emperor: The Death of Kings
Emperor: The Field of Swords
Emperor: The Gods of War
EMPEROR: THE GODS OF WAR
A Delacorte Press Book / April 2006
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2006 by Conn Iggulden
Title page art: Caesar © Bettmann/CORBIS
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Iggulden, Conn.
Emperor : the gods of war / Conn Iggulden.
p. cm. — (Emperor series ; v. 4)
1. Caesar, Julius—Fiction. 2. Rome—History—Civil War, 49–45 B.C.—Fiction. 3. Emperors—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6109.G47E475 2006
823'.92—dc22
2005051947
Published simultaneously in Canada
www.bantamdell.com
eISBN: 978-0-440-33592-4
v3.0