Book Review: Caligula by Simon Turney

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rounded up.

This is not my usual genre of history. I know little beyond the widely known in terms of Roman history. However, I thought I’d give this a go and see if it piqued an interest. Unfortunately it didn’t.

Is Caligula really the cruel, sadistic tyrant he’s often portrayed as? Or is there more to the man than what history chooses to tell? Told by his sister Lavilla, we see the fun loving boy develop into the calculating man who must take care of his family in order to survive. With betrayal after betrayal we see his decent into madness, and what it truly means to sacrifice everything to rule with absolute power.

This was really well written, and is certainly a different take on the ‘known’  history of Caligula. It stresses the point that history is often an extension of the truth and shouldn’t always be taken at face value. There are not many surviving historical sources that tells us what Caligula was really like, with most stories coming many years after his death. This leaves his story very open to interpretation, and this was an interesting premise. The descriptions are also vivid and really help set the scene for someone who knows very little about Roman history. I wasn’t confused reading this at any point.

I also thought the overall atmosphere in the story is built up well. There’s an undercurrent of tension that builds gradually over time, mixed with constant underlying suspicion. It feels like Caligula needed to be constantly on his guard, never trusting anyone. No wonder he went mad with paranoia.

Unfortunately, for the most part, I found this rather dull, which I think is due to the subject matter just not really being interesting to me, and also because I found there wasn’t much character development beyond that of Caligula, who is wonderfully complex. There was so much potential to build Lavilla into a complex character, but this isn’t developed. She comes across as more of a biased narrator with an almost unwavering amount of affection for her brother that boards on worship, which I found annoying. Also I found that sometimes having her as the only narrator was rather jarring, and odd, as she seems to turn up in places she shouldn’t be just in order to overhear a conversation to further the plot. I think it would have been more beneficial in this instance to have more than one view point - for clarity and a more unbiased option of Caligula.

I think this would appeal to those who enjoy a Roman historical novel, as a do find the premise quite unique. However, without more interesting characters, it just wasn’t my thing.

Caligula is available to purchase now from: Amazon

 - 3 stars