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mayaet's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I don’t think I was the target audience for this book because although it’s really well written, I found it so unbelievably boring. It read more like a history book than a novel and while characters were well developed, I felt like there wasn’t much focus on the main characters.
This novel used the characters as a vehicle to demonstrate the history of this time period with 4 different emperors. While I do love historical fiction, i prioritie the characters and plot of the story, over the historical and technical details of the time period.
Not a bad book, but I was the wrong reader for it. I would recommend this for people who are reading historical fiction to gain more knowledge and who are more interested in the history part rather than the fiction.
This novel used the characters as a vehicle to demonstrate the history of this time period with 4 different emperors. While I do love historical fiction, i prioritie the characters and plot of the story, over the historical and technical details of the time period.
Not a bad book, but I was the wrong reader for it. I would recommend this for people who are reading historical fiction to gain more knowledge and who are more interested in the history part rather than the fiction.
berkeleyjane's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
linwearcamenel's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
takethyme's review
4.0
3.75 stars
As old as time, slavery has always existed in one or another. This is the story of two young people who meet for the first time over the comforting scent of food. A sausage in particular. Vespasian and his brother are soldiers wandering through Rome when they smell something delicious. They are humbled when they meet Caenis, a young slave, who shares the meager portion of her meal with them. Vespasian will remember this special woman.
Caenis belonged to Antonia, a high-ranking woman. Both intelligent and cautious, her job was to write letters for her mistress. Eventually she would become Antonia's favorite. This allowed her luxuries that few slaves had such as companionship.
When Vespasian returned to Rome two years later, he sought her out. The strange part was there was an antiquated law issued by a now-dead emperor that forbade soldiers from having relationships with slaves and freed-people. Given permission to meet with him, Caenis is both leery and happy while in Vespasian's presence. She knows that any suspicious act is justification to be put to death.
Vespasian is turned away on several occasions by Caenis but it is for his own good. She is as much concerned about him as she is for herself. Each time they see each other their relationship matures. "They had become confederates. They were talking like two outsiders from society. They talked for months they had already missed and the period of Vespasian's coming tour; openly and easily, sharing rudeness and laughter, discovery and surprise; until lunchtime, and into the afternoon. They talked until they were tired."
The plot of [b:The Course of Honor|73033|The Course of Honor|Lindsey Davis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406144720l/73033._SY75_.jpg|70689] covered most of Caenis's life. My biggest complaint was getting use to the author's clipped form of speech that her characters use periodically. Also, some might be turned off by Caenis's form of arrogance when she dealt with others. But caution comes to mind, she never took anything for granted; she was raised as a slave after all. Other than that, Ms. Davis did a good job letting me take a glimpse into an era that few people write about. Her description of everyday life felt spot-on. Several times she managed to make me lose track that I was reading a book.
Be aware that this is first and foremost a book on historical fiction. It covered a horrifying time if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time: no one was safe.The unusual romance between Vespasian and Caenis had its ups and downs. Financial difficulties would haunt the soldier most of his life. Because of who they were these two would never be allowed to marry. The last decade of her life was spent separated from Vespasian on many occasions and it made for an underwhelming conclusion in [b:The Course of Honor|73033|The Course of Honor|Lindsey Davis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406144720l/73033._SY75_.jpg|70689] but it fit the storyline.
If you are expecting a wild romance with passion, look elsewhere. This is about the course of honor or cursus honorum, Latin for course of offices, and how it influenced men who aspired to hold public office during Roman times. Ms. Davis wrote an entertaining narrative. It contains flawed main characters; neither of them was beautiful or perfect. The setting is unusual and there is some delicious word-play. Take yourself out of your comfort zone, like I did, and give this book a try.
*If you enjoy Ms. Davis's style of writing, she has written a mystery series with a witty detective named Marcus Didius Falco that works on cases during Vespasian's reign as emperor.*
As old as time, slavery has always existed in one or another. This is the story of two young people who meet for the first time over the comforting scent of food. A sausage in particular. Vespasian and his brother are soldiers wandering through Rome when they smell something delicious. They are humbled when they meet Caenis, a young slave, who shares the meager portion of her meal with them. Vespasian will remember this special woman.
Caenis belonged to Antonia, a high-ranking woman. Both intelligent and cautious, her job was to write letters for her mistress. Eventually she would become Antonia's favorite. This allowed her luxuries that few slaves had such as companionship.
When Vespasian returned to Rome two years later, he sought her out. The strange part was there was an antiquated law issued by a now-dead emperor that forbade soldiers from having relationships with slaves and freed-people. Given permission to meet with him, Caenis is both leery and happy while in Vespasian's presence. She knows that any suspicious act is justification to be put to death.
Vespasian is turned away on several occasions by Caenis but it is for his own good. She is as much concerned about him as she is for herself. Each time they see each other their relationship matures. "They had become confederates. They were talking like two outsiders from society. They talked for months they had already missed and the period of Vespasian's coming tour; openly and easily, sharing rudeness and laughter, discovery and surprise; until lunchtime, and into the afternoon. They talked until they were tired."
The plot of [b:The Course of Honor|73033|The Course of Honor|Lindsey Davis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406144720l/73033._SY75_.jpg|70689] covered most of Caenis's life. My biggest complaint was getting use to the author's clipped form of speech that her characters use periodically. Also, some might be turned off by Caenis's form of arrogance when she dealt with others. But caution comes to mind, she never took anything for granted; she was raised as a slave after all. Other than that, Ms. Davis did a good job letting me take a glimpse into an era that few people write about. Her description of everyday life felt spot-on. Several times she managed to make me lose track that I was reading a book.
Be aware that this is first and foremost a book on historical fiction. It covered a horrifying time if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time: no one was safe.
If you are expecting a wild romance with passion, look elsewhere. This is about the course of honor or cursus honorum, Latin for course of offices, and how it influenced men who aspired to hold public office during Roman times. Ms. Davis wrote an entertaining narrative. It contains flawed main characters; neither of them was beautiful or perfect. The setting is unusual and there is some delicious word-play. Take yourself out of your comfort zone, like I did, and give this book a try.
*If you enjoy Ms. Davis's style of writing, she has written a mystery series with a witty detective named Marcus Didius Falco that works on cases during Vespasian's reign as emperor.*
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in June 1998.
The Course of Honour is, like most of Davis' novels, set in the Rome of the first century AD. Unlike these novels, its main character is historical, not the private detective Falco. Caenis was a slave to Antonia, who was related to most of the early emperors of Rome. She received her freedom, and became the mistress of an obscure young senator (a Sabine rather than a true Roman) named Vespasian.
Though the two of them find true love together, Caenis forces a parting for the sake of Vespasian's career. The book details the struggles to survive for both of them under the emperors from Tiberius to Nero, of varying degrees of insanity.
Then comes the year of the four emperors, AD 69, and the first major civil war of the Empire, followed by the victory of Vespasian and his enthronement as emperor.
As usual, Davis writes well and with a good sense of period; the subject matter of this novel (the comparative richness of the characters in particular) means that it is a good deal less nasty than the Falco series. It is also more constrained by the "real history" involved, which is caused both by having real historical people as major characters and by covering a much larger sweep of history (one which is also covered in some detail by several more or less contemporary historians). These restrictions don't seem to handicap Davis; this book confirms to me that she is a writer of some stature, not just someone who can write well in a limited field.
The Course of Honour is, like most of Davis' novels, set in the Rome of the first century AD. Unlike these novels, its main character is historical, not the private detective Falco. Caenis was a slave to Antonia, who was related to most of the early emperors of Rome. She received her freedom, and became the mistress of an obscure young senator (a Sabine rather than a true Roman) named Vespasian.
Though the two of them find true love together, Caenis forces a parting for the sake of Vespasian's career. The book details the struggles to survive for both of them under the emperors from Tiberius to Nero, of varying degrees of insanity.
Then comes the year of the four emperors, AD 69, and the first major civil war of the Empire, followed by the victory of Vespasian and his enthronement as emperor.
As usual, Davis writes well and with a good sense of period; the subject matter of this novel (the comparative richness of the characters in particular) means that it is a good deal less nasty than the Falco series. It is also more constrained by the "real history" involved, which is caused both by having real historical people as major characters and by covering a much larger sweep of history (one which is also covered in some detail by several more or less contemporary historians). These restrictions don't seem to handicap Davis; this book confirms to me that she is a writer of some stature, not just someone who can write well in a limited field.
hekate24's review
4.0
This book had several things working in its favor,if you're looking for something a little different. It's set in Ancient Rome and focuses on Vespasian- a nice deviation from the Julio-Claudians and the five good emperors. (Granted large swathes of time take place during the Julio-Claudians' reign, but it was nice to not have them as the focus. Not really.) As another unique choice, the main character turns out to be a slave who rises to the middle class. Granted, Caenis was fortunate enough to work for a very wealthy patron and receive an education, but one of the subplots of this book is the ways in which living as a slave- even one who has all their basic needs met- can be damaging to one's psyche. In a genre that focuses far too much on the rich and the powerful for my taste sometimes, this was a nice change of pace.
The books major fault is that paragraphs upon paragraph are devoted to the recitation of historical events, seemingly shifting far away from the POV of any of the main characters. It was aggravating to read a very powerful few pages in which the protagonists were fully engaged... only to have events grind to a halt with Ancient History 101. And it was doubly a shame because Davis really has a talent for conveying what living during tumultuous times can be like. The character gossip and fear what the emperors will do next, but they also plan marriages, fuss over children, live in crappy apartments, and wonder where their next paycheck will come from. It feels weirdly complementary to present times. If she could have better integrated this wonderful aspect of the book with the history lesson, this would have been a five star read.
And of course this book is pretty romantic at the heart of it. The love story is sweet and unpretentious and I bought their affection for one another. Glad I spent time on this book.
The books major fault is that paragraphs upon paragraph are devoted to the recitation of historical events, seemingly shifting far away from the POV of any of the main characters. It was aggravating to read a very powerful few pages in which the protagonists were fully engaged... only to have events grind to a halt with Ancient History 101. And it was doubly a shame because Davis really has a talent for conveying what living during tumultuous times can be like. The character gossip and fear what the emperors will do next, but they also plan marriages, fuss over children, live in crappy apartments, and wonder where their next paycheck will come from. It feels weirdly complementary to present times. If she could have better integrated this wonderful aspect of the book with the history lesson, this would have been a five star read.
And of course this book is pretty romantic at the heart of it. The love story is sweet and unpretentious and I bought their affection for one another. Glad I spent time on this book.
eafiu's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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