Synopsis: Four Emperors. Two Friends. One Destiny.
As twilight descends on the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire is but a shadow of its former self. Decades of usurping emperors, splinter kingdoms and savage wars have left the people beleaguered, the armies weary and the future uncertain. And into this chaos Emperor Diocletian steps, reforming the succession to allow for not one emperor to rule the world, but four.
Meanwhile, two boys share a chance meeting in the great city of Treverorum as Diocletian's dream is announced to the imperial court. Throughout the years that follow, they share heartbreak and glory as that dream sours and the empire endures an era of tyranny and dread. Their lives are inextricably linked, their destinies ever-converging as they rise through Rome's savage stations, to the zenith of empire. For Constantine and Maxentius, the purple robes beckon...
Wow. What a challenge - two authors - two characters - one book. Did they pull it off - sure did.
This is the story of Emperor Constantine and his rival Emperor Maxentius, Set in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD, we follow our two main characters as they embark on their rise to power within the cesspit - "... the discoloured underbelly of the Empire with all its sickening ungliness ..." - that was Rome and the Roman Empire at the height of the religious persecutions.
The Roman Empire at this time was one of chaos and anarchy. Civil wars, petty rivalries, invasions from enemies both within and without, and disease were rending the empire so perilously that the Emperor Diocletian tried to bring order by distributing power to a four-ruler tetrarchy that would govern the four quarters of the empire. Simply put, the Tetrarchic Emperors (Diocletian, b, Galerius, and Constantius), were more or less sovereign in their own lands, and they travelled with their own imperial courts, administrators, secretaries, and armies. They were joined by blood and marriage and these relationships implied a line of succession. Galerius and Constantius would become Augusti after the departure of Diocletian and Maximian. Maximian's son Maxentius and Constantius's son Constantine would then become Caesars. In preparation for their future roles, Constantine and Maxentius were taken to Diocletian's court in Nicomedia. (source: Wikipedia). Could this model work - not for very long as each man's personal ambitions came to the fore.
It was also during the reign of Diocletian that the persecutions of Christians became more rampant and decidedly brutal with the result being death, torture, imprisonment, or dislocation for many Christians. This was and is an extremely complex subject with varying degrees of enforcement and tolerance - whereas Galerius and Diocletian were avid persecutors, Constantius (father of Constantine) was unenthusiastic.
Each author provides the first person narrative for their character, as the stories run smoothly, contemporaneous, enhancing and contributing to the narrative of the other.
Doherty takes on the character of the colossus - Constantine (below left). A man known to all as the Emperor who sanctioned the legitimised the religion of Christianity and made it the dominant religion of the Western (Roman) Empire. There is a plethora of information on Constantine - suffice to say that the youth of Constantine is presented in a very plausable, well crafted manner.
Turney tackles Maxentius (above right), an emperor about whom very little is known, and as such, had the more difficult tasks of constructing a narrative for this elusive monarch. Unlike the more militaristic Constantine, Maxentius is more the politician. He comes across as the more sympathetic of the two - the underdog - that one in instinctively drawn to him more - even more so if one is a student of this particular period.
This could quite easily have been a fail but in this instance, it isn't. This is very well researched by authors who have an obvious passion (obsession?) for the period and their characters, and this story flows seamlessly. It is the first in a series, for though whilst we begin at the end - the Battle of Milvian Bridge - we are far from it this outing as the tale continues with Masters of Rome.
For the purist, the last dozen pages are taken up with notes and Latin terms.
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