Augustus
by John Williams
Award: National Book Winner 1973
Date Read: September 9, 2023
In the realm of historical fiction, Williams has clearly outdone himself and I can see why Augustus earned him a National Book Award. Created from fictionalized letters and memoirs of those who orbited in Emperor Augustus’ world, we slowly begin to see a portrait of a man who is trying to serve Rome and dodge the continuing threats that encroach on him from all sides.
Perhaps the greatest love of Augustus’ life is his daughter Julia. He dotes on her in her childhood and can deny her almost nothing. As she matures, her status serves the causes of Rome and she is married at a very young age in an advantageous match. After her husband dies in battle, she is married again for the benefit of Rome, her own preferences and desires irrelevant. And when her much older husband also passes away from a sudden illness, she is married again to a cruel man who she despises, Tiberius.
During this marriage, Julia begins to discover her own desires. She participates in a ritual in Lesbos that opens her eyes to the sexual pleasures she could have. Eventually exiled for her lovers conspiring to kill Tiberius and her father Augustus, she is considered an old woman at 40. When she’s writing her memoirs, at the ripe age of 44, the desire she still feels for a man’s touch seems to her an echo of times past, rather than an immediate desire. I wanted to tell her to go get hers. She’s still alive. And 44 isn’t old at all.
Clearly, with his own daughter a suspect in a plot to kill him, Augustus has few he can truly trust. If ever someone were to be allured by the wealth and power of being an Emperor, one only need look at Augustus’ life to realize the exhaustion, isolation and constant vigilance required to perform that role.
Overall, I found this to be superbly executed. Often, however, I found the content dry and lacking a human portrayal which I feel Williams was going for but ultimately missed the mark.
Comments
Post a Comment