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Dynasty Paperback – June 2, 2016

by Tom Holland (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 1,484
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'This is a wonderful, surging narrative - a brilliant and meticulous synthesis of the ancient sources . . . This is a story that should be read by anyone interested in history, politics or human nature - and it has never been better told' - Boris Johnson, Mail on Sunday

Rome was first ruled by kings, then became a republic. But in the end, after conquering the world, the Republic collapsed. Rome was drowned in blood. So terrible were the civil wars that the Roman people finally came to welcome the rule of an autocrat who could give them peace. 'Augustus,' their new master called himself: 'The Divinely Favoured One'.

The lurid glamour of the dynasty founded by Augustus has never faded. No other family can compare for sheer unsettling fascination with its gallery of leading characters. Tiberius, the great general who ended up a bitter recluse, notorious for his perversions; Caligula, the master of cruelty and humiliation who rode his chariot across the sea; Agrippina, the mother of Nero, manoeuvering to bring to power the son who would end up having her murdered; Nero himself, racing in the Olympics, marrying a eunuch, and building a pleasure palace over the fire-gutted centre of his capital.

Now, in the sequel to Rubicon, Tom Holland gives a dazzling portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty. Dynasty traces the full astonishing story of its rule of the world: both the brilliance of its allure, and the blood-steeped shadows cast by its crimes. Ranging from the great capital rebuilt in marble by Augustus to the dank and barbarian-haunted forests of Germany, it is populated by a spectacular cast: murderers and metrosexuals, adulterers and druids, scheming grandmothers and reluctant gladiators.

Dynasty is the portrait of a family that transformed and stupefied Rome.

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  1. Print length
    512 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Abacus
  4. Publication date
    June 2, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.16 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780349123837
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0349123837
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Holland's masterly account of this first wicked century of the Roman empire is, at its heart, a political analysis . . . the story he tells strides onwards across the landscape of grief and horror without pause or stutter . . . Holland is unshockable as he proceeds with breezy, clear-eyed analysis from one degrading display of cruelty and paranoia to the next . . . It is down to his skill as a storyteller that there's no difficulty in imagining that it might all happen again tomorrow―Adam Nicholson, Sunday Times

Brilliant, terrifying and compelling―Alex Preston, Observer

A witty and skilful storyteller . . . He recounts with pleasure his racy tales of psychopathic cruelty, incest, paedophilia, matricide, fratricide, assassination and depravity―William Dalrymple, New Statesman

A thrilling book by one of the country's best popular historians . . . genuinely breathtaking―History Today

Deft and skilful . . . Among the many virtues of Tom Holland's terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west's primal examples of tyranny' . . . Dynasty is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story―Nick Cohen, Observer

This is history in which fact and fiction overlap, rigorously researched and lightened with dashes of humour . . . first-rate ancient history and a compulsively good read―Matthew Dennison, Daily Mail

This is a wonderful, surging narrative - a brilliant and meticulous synthesis of the ancient sources . . . This is a story that should be read by anyone interested in history, politics or human nature - and it has never been better told―Boris Johnson, Mail on Sunday

About the Author

Tom Holland is the author of Rubicon, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2004; Persian Fire, which won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award 2006; and the highly acclaimed Millennium and In the Shadow of the Sword. He has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0349123837
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abacus (June 2, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780349123837
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0349123837
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.16 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 1,484

About the author

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Tom Holland

Tom Holland

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Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, biographer and broadcaster. He is the author of Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic, which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; Persian Fire his history of the Graeco-Persian wars, won the Anglo-Hellenic League’s Runciman Award in 2006; Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom, a panoramic account of the two centuries on either side of the apocalyptic year 1000; In the Shadow of the Sword, which covers the collapse of Roman and Persian power in the Near East, and the emergence of Islam; and Dynasty, a portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty.

He has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Virgil for the BBC. His translation of Herodotus was published in 2013 by Penguin Classics. His biography of Æthelstan, the first King of England, was published in 2016 under the Penguin Monarchs series, and his biography of Æthelflæd, England’s Forgotten Founder, was a Ladybird Expert Book published in 2019. In 2007, he was the winner of the Classical Association prize, awarded to ‘the individual who has done most to promote the study of the language, literature and civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome’.

Holland is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Making History. He has written and presented a number of TV documentaries, for the BBC and Channel 4, on subjects ranging from ISIS to dinosaurs.

He served two years as the Chair of the Society of Authors and is Chair of the British Library’s PLR Advisory Committee.

@holland_tom

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,484 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert W. Piedrahita
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and Fascinating.
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2023
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Well written and researched. Deadly and dangerous times for those aspiring for power. Portrays Tiberius’ early years somewhat sympathetically. Caligula removed the mask Octavian had placed over the power he had accumulated and revealed to the Romans what they had become and the type of rule they lived under. Portrayed as a shrewd monster, Great read.
2 people found this helpful
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T.R.
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2020
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This is interesting and certainly well-written. The author has a terrific command of English and has a florid manner of writing, which means it's not a quick read but certainly an entertaining one. He narrates the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. They are presented such that it's pretty much a steady and sometimes astonishing decline from Tiberius onward. He relies on original sources, which is great, but there are drawbacks, i.e. they all had their own reasons for writing (reflections of the time in which they lived), axes to grind, or emperors to pander to as the case may be. Seutonius, for example, is famous for being a gossip and the author appears to take whatever spurious rumors, substantiated or not, at face value even though he reminds us now and then that such reports are to be taken with a grain of salt.
2 people found this helpful
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Robert Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Great sequel, and an equally great read
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2017
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Tom Holland continues where he left off in RUBICON with this insightful, well-sourced, and addictive read about the five emperors from Augustus to Nero. It is in much the same vein as its predecessor, but is much longer and therefore contains more of the "juicy" stuff. Of course, he doesn't always take the primary sources at their word (as many of the notes attest), but he is also keen enough to understand that people don't usually make stuff up out of whole cloth. There were so many different interesting episodes, it was hard to keep track. It was also hard while reading this book to not think in some way of contemporary politics. In a way, ancient Roman history has become newly relevant. Not because we're necessarily headed down an identical path, but recognizing the personalities involved here can inform one of the possibilities inherent in human nature. Regardless of whether or not you see value in this personally, though, doesn't matter. Modern applicability or not, this was a great book: a real page-turner from start to finish.
18 people found this helpful
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Richard J. Estep
5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like the finest of historical fiction
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2018
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Tom Holland has a true gift for taking certain periods of history and crafting a meaningful, coherent narrative from the names, times, places, and events. As such, he is a wonderful popularizer whose non-fiction books read with all of the pacing of a well-written novel. “Dynasty” follows the bloodline of the house of Caesar to its ultimate end, concluding with the death of Nero. Along the way there is triumph, tragedy, blood, death, sex, torture, drama and intrigue that is all the more compelling because it happens to be true. The book moves along at a breakneck pace but never lacks for detail. Holland knows just where to focus the reader’s attention, and like “Rubicon” which came before it, “Dynasty” is a must-read for those who are fascinated with the history of ancient Rome.
2 people found this helpful
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Albert Innaurato
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable but not rigorously scholarly Introduction to the rise of The early Emperors
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2016
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Holland's style has energy and sweep and the "story" is compelling. On that basis, I thought this an enjoyable run through of fascinating but mostly familiar tales. It is very difficult to prove much that is asserted about the characters and behaviors of the Julian emperors. Could Caligula really have been so horrific? Could Nero have been so crazy? Are the sexual excesses attributed to Tiberius' during his reign verifiable? Could Livia, Augustus' wife and Tiberius' mother, have been an early version of Murder Incorporated or was it mostly luck that favored the rise of her gifted but unbeguiling son against more popular rivals? "History" of the time and somewhat later was written by those with axes to grind who made little distinction between outrageous gossip, outlandish rumor, and outright lies if they served to show these men and their allies (many of whom met bad ends) to be utterly monstrous, rather than powerful thus extremely self-indulgent, sufferers from paranoia (an understandable reaction to a world filled with complex and murderous intrigues) or disordered in flamboyant but finally standard ways. Holland doesn't always succeed in keeping the complicated kinship relationships between characters clear, and sometimes writes as though treading water to the next outrageous anecdote. There is something infectious in the glee with which he writes about Nero, always fun to read about, if again one suspects these are tall tales spun by enemies of a ruler who wooed the plebs, snubbed those in power and certainly had a sense of perverse fun. Not a bad introduction in a general way to the death of the Republic and the rise of absolute rulers in Rome but less focused, absorbing and more credulous than one might have hoped.
25 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Fernando
4.0 out of 5 stars História be, contada
Reviewed in Brazil on October 4, 2023
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Excelente visão do mundo Romano, leitura um pouco difícil mas cativante
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Beatrice Maude
5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERBLY WRITTEN BOOK
Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2018
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Tom Holland is a gifted writer. It was pure pleasure reading this book. It isn't an easy read but that wasn't why I bought it, I wanted to learn about this era in Roman history. It was extremely fascinating and informative. When a book is this good, I read it rapidly which is somewhat sad because before I knew it, it was over. I will read it again at some point, it is that good. I highly recommend Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar to anyone who can't get enough of Ancient Roman history.
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James Alejandre
5.0 out of 5 stars James Alejandre
Reviewed in Spain on December 7, 2017
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Great narrative, equal to Rubicon. There is detail and context, with verve and rythm, good complementary account of the Julians.
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Brett Cahill
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating from start to finish
Reviewed in Australia on January 30, 2023
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Truly one of the best books I have ever read on Rome or perhaps even history in general. Factual information seamlessly weaved into an incredible story. Tom Holland makes you feel as though you are really there. The research that went into the book must have been immense. After reading this, I have already bought and will continue to buy many more Holland books. Thankyou! (Caesar Augustus is the GOAT)
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Caracalla
5.0 out of 5 stars Geschichte wie im Spielfilm
Reviewed in Germany on January 20, 2017
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Sie wurde schon vielfach erzählt - die Geschichte der Dynastien der Julier und Claudier, die im ersten nachchristlichen Jahrhundert die ersten römischen Kaiser stellten. Tom Holland gelingt hier wie in seinen anderen Büchern zu ähnlichen Themen wieder das Kunststück, dieses schon so oft durchgekaute Thema so zu verpacken, dass der Leser immer wieder neue Details entdeckt, immer wieder mitgerissen wird und am Ende ein Buch aus der Hand legt mit dem Gefühl, wieder etwas dazu gelernt zu haben.

Tom Hollands Schreibstil ist ganz anders als der der Standard-Historienliteratur. Man wird von Anfang an in seinen Bann gezogen, wenn er im Stil eines Reporters seinen Protagonisten über die Schulter schaut und schon fast voyeurartig auch moralisch Grenzwertiges zum besten gibt.

Eingangs des Buchs - man ist fast versucht zu sagen: der Erzählung - wird der Leser noch einmal zurückgeführt zum Ende Cäsars und in den darauf folgenden Bürgerkrieg, aus dem schließlich Octavian als Alleinherrscher hervorgeht. Seiner Herrschaft und dem schleichenden Abbau der römischen Demokratie wird breiter Raum eingeräumt. Wie sehr ähnelt dieser Teil des Buchs Vorgängen in zweifelhaften Demokratien, in denen legal gewählte Staatsoberhäupter peu à peu zum Diktator mutieren (aktuell: Türkei). Leider bleibt so recht wenig Platz für die restlichen Akteure. Erhält Tiberius noch reichlich Zuwendung, wird die Zeit Caligulas recht rasch abgehandelt, ähnlich ergeht es Holland mit Claudius. Lediglich Nero bekommt wieder etwas mehr Aufmerksamkeit - was der einer der zweifelhaftesten Gestalten der römischen Geschichte sicher auch angemessen ist.

Holland schließt mit einem kurzen Ausblick auf die Zeit nach Nero, den wieder aufflammenden Bürgerkrieg und das endgültige Ende der römischen Republik.

Das alles ist enorm spannend erzählt, mit viel Liebe zum Detail und voll gepackt mit historischen Informationen. Mich hat am meisten fasziniert, wie sich die Auslegung des Amts bei den einzelnen Inhabern im Laufe der Zeit verändert hat. Sah sich Augustus noch als Vertreter einer römischen Republik, der sich wenigstens formal alle Handlungen legitimieren liess, tritt das bei seinen Nachfolgern mehr und mehr in den Hintergrund. Aber selbst von Nero ist es noch ein weiter Weg zu den Kaisern der spätrömischen Zeit oder gar deren absolutistischen Nachfolgern in den späteren europäischen Staatsgebilden.

Die Verständlichkeit des Erzählten leidet manchmal unter den langen Satzgebilden Hollands, die man z.T. mehrfach lesen muss, um sie zu verstehen. Andere Passagen erzählen die Ereignisse wiederum schlagwortartig, dynamisch, fast hektisch - oft der tatsächlichen Dramatik folgend. Einfach zu lesen ist das nicht immer. Aber es bleibt das Verdienst Hollands, dass man trotzdem bei der Stange bleibt. Bis zum Schluss....

5* und unbedingte Leseempfehlung
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