Review: Eagles Rising: The Augustus Caesar Saga Books 1 & 2 by Richard Foreman

Blurb

AUGUSTUS: SON OF ROME
‘Augustus: Son of Rome’ tells the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar and the rise of his heir, Gaius Octavius, as he journeys to Rome from Apollonia. We see a boy grow into a man as Octavius develops the moral courage, intelligence and ruthlessness that will finally see him become Augustus, Emperor of Rome.

The pen and sword will be employed to defeat his enemies and Octavius will earn the name of “Caesar”.Yet Rome will exact its price – and triumph will be accompanied by tragedy.

Julius Caesar, Cicero, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Brutus and Marcus Agrippa all feature in this epic adventure, which will appeal to fans of Shakespeare, Plutarch and Conn Iggulden alike.

AUGUSTUS: SON OF CAESAR
Caesar is dead – murdered by Marcus Brutus and his fellow conspirators.

Mark Antony now holds power in Rome, through his position as consul and the legions under his command. Brutus has fled the capital, along with Cassius Longinus. Cicero is a shadow of the force he once was.

The Senate are unable or unwilling to oppose Antony but Octavius, Caesar’s heir, is daring to defy Rome’s new dictator.

Octavius – along with Marcus Agrippa and the centurion Lucius Oppius – must first negotiate the treacherous politics of the capital and then recruit an army, in order to defeat their enemies.

War is inevitable. The fate of Rome will be decided on the battlefield rather than in the Forum. Caesar is dead. Long live Caesar.

My Review

I really had mixed feeling about this book(s). I really liked the development of Octavius and Agrippa; for once, we see Octavius as a real teenager on the way up—not as a snotty trumped-up interloper as he is often depicted. There was real character in the youth, and intelligence. Sure, he wasn’t particularly courageous, but bravery probably wasn’t the reason Julius Caesar chose him as his heir. Besides, Octavius had the loyal Agrippa to protect him, though his friend was terribly distracted by his new—and probably hopeless—love affair. Anyway, Octavius still had some bitter lessons ahead of him, as he found out after falling under the spell of the duplicitous Cicero, who wanted to use him then throw him away. That might have been the end of what little innocence he may have retained.

What confused me about this book was the sequence of events. Of course, the greedy and disreputable Marc Antony sought to rid himself of the troublesome Octavius. It wasn’t so easy after all. I spent the whole book trying to figure out how in the world they would end up as uneasy allies. But I’m just going to have to be patient, for that eventuality doesn’t occur in the pages of these two books. Antony certainly thought himself the better man:

“Permission to speak freely, sir.”
“Granted.”
“It is not our desire to choose between you and Octavius – but rather we wish to serve you both. The legions want you to become allies, not opponents. Only by operating together will we be strong enough to defeat the Senate’s forces and avenge Caesar’s murder.”
“Are you somehow saying that I should treat this boy as my equal, that we should hold joint command?” Antony replied, ire and bewilderment firing his aspect and flaring his nostrils. “He’s just a f’ing boy, with about as much noble blood as a Gaulish drab. He has spent more time potty training than he has training to be a soldier.”

At the same time, I understood that Brutus was the official enemy of them both, though I had a hard time tracking his steps. Did Brutus hang out awhile in Rome after Caesar’s murder? How did he host gladiatorial games if he was absent? When did he finally leave the city, and where did his army come from? It’s possible I missed something, but I was totally confused as to his movements all the way through. There were a lot of interesting battles and skirmishes throughout the book, but overall I had trouble tying everything together. I’ll keep trying, though, because I enjoyed the character development.