Imperium

This article is reprinted with permission from the October 19, 2006 edition of the New York Law Journal. © 2006 ALM Properties Inc. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.

10/19/2006 N.Y.L.J. 2, (col. 3)

New York Law Journal

Volume 236

Thursday, October 19, 2006

LAWYER'S BOOKSHELF

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Reviewed by Phil Schatz

By Robert Harris, Simon & Schuster, New York, N.Y. 320 pages, $26Marcus Tullius Cicero (103-43 B.C.) was the finest lawyer of his age and leading advocate for balanced constitutional government as the Roman republic lurched into civil war and despotism. He is the hero of Robert Harris' new historical novel 'Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome.' Narrated by Cicero's amanuensis Tiro (also a real historical person) decades after Cicero's death, the narrative covers two major episodes early in Cicero's long career: his prosecution of the ruthlessly corrupt governor Gaius Veres in 70 B.C., and his election as consul in 63 B.C.

Harris is a consistently fine craftsman of historical thrillers. His 'Fatherland,' set in alternative-universe 1964 where Germany had won the war and was preparing to celebrate Hitler's 75th birthday, was the best of the bigger-than-expected genre of such what-if thrillers. He has written convincing and exciting novels set in disparate other eras and locations: 'Enigma' was set in the Bletchley Park computing project during World War II, 'Archangel' was set in early 1990s Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and 'Pompei' was set in that city during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. 'Imperium' is thus his second trip to the Roman well.

The first half of 'Imperium,' the prosecution of Veres, is a corker and well worth theprice of the book. Cicero is a provincial and ambitious young defense attorney, a master of the direct, 'attic' style of oratory, with designs on the mantel of Rome's greatest advocate. To achieve that goal he needs to best Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, the most celebrated and successful member of the Roman bar, called the 'dancing master' in honor of his flowery, ornate 'asiatic' oratorical style. To best Hortensius, Cicero needs a high-profile case where he and Hortensius can compete head-to-head. Such a case arises when a group of ruined Sicilian businessmen appear in Cicero's office to complain of Veres' brutal and blatant thievery as administrator of that province. (Veres crucified those who refused to yield to his corrupt schemes, even if they were Roman citizens.) In a calculated but dangerous gamble, Cicero agrees to crossover and prosecute Veres for public corruption. Cicero's professional reputation and personal safety are on the line. Veres, who is as connected as he is corrupt, promptly hires Hortensius as his defense attorney. The game is on, and results in a gripping pretrial and trial drama with a satisfactory conclusion midway through the novel.

The second half of the novel is set a few years later and involves Cicero's struggles to prevent the dissolution of the Roman republic into a dictatorship at the same time as he seeks to be elected Consul, the highest honor in Rome. The struggle is doomed, as Rome had already set its path toward dictatorship under Sulla and was being held together as a republic mostly due to the inability of any one of the main contenders--Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus--to coordinate their power to the exclusion of the others. At least Pompey, Caesar and (to a lesser extent) Crassus are willing to pretend to work within the constitutional system; the savage equestrian reprobate Cataline has abandoned pretense to conspire to overthrow the government. As a pillar of respectable republicanism, and as an ambitious power broker in his own right, Cicero is courted by all of these ambitious men and their shifting and dangerous alliances.

Harris has a gift for constructing distinct and credible characters from real historical persons, and he keeps the narrative moving briskly throughout. Ultimately, however, the second half stops short of a satisfying conclusion. It ends with an election, not inherently the most dramatic of denouements, and the major subplots--Cataline's conspiracy and the power struggle between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus--are left unresolved. Indeed, Cataline is only beginning his most dangerous and openly rebellious phase, and Caesar, Pompey and Crassus are still consolidating the power bases that will ultimately lead to open civil war.

There is a point where 'Imperium' threatens to become more than an historical thriller and to achieve some contemporary relevance. Rome is stunned by an attack from pirates who don't respect its reputation as the power center of the world. The pampered populace, several generations removed from such threats, is overcome with fear. The power brokers fan the flames. This is an unconventional threat from a different sort of enemy, they say. Conventional tools are useless because these attackers have 'no government to represent them and no treaties to bind them.' Pompey suggests that the only solution to this allegedly unprecedented threat is to give him an unlimited power, unrestrained by any senatorial oversight--in short, the unitary executive circa 68 B.C.

The thread is dropped before it is fully developed (in part because Rome acquiesces and steps yet closer to dictatorship), so 'Imperium,' sadly, does not become the important cautionary tale that it might have been. It is, in the end, just a political thriller...a pretty good one that could have been something more.

Phil Schatz is a member of Wrobel & Schatz LLP.

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