Customer Reviews

Centurion: A Novel of Ancient Rome

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The career of a centurion during the reign of Augustus and the disastrous campaign into Germany by Varus.
If you enjoy historical novels, this is one you cannot pass up. As is the case with Scarrow's novels, this novel of Ancient Rome doesn't involve christians or christianity at all, a very refreshing fact. It covers the problems of a senior centurion who is faced with following a know-nothing Tribune and a totally inept commander into a disaster in Germany. Arminius is a real historical character and he did just what the book says he did to Varus and his army. The Rhine legions were the pride of the Roman army and Varus lost them all due to his total ineptitude and some organizational genius by Arminius (whose German name was Herman and who headed the Germanic tribe known as the Allemani) Arminius was trained in Roman ways through service in the legions and used this knowledge to pull together the fragmented, feuding Germmanic tribes into a single unit. His army didn't have much discipline, but they didn't require a great deal since he was able to lead the pompous Varus, as if on a leash, into an ambush where discipline was useless.

Augustus was actually much more distressed by the loss of his Rhine legions and their eagles than the book indicates, but all in all, it's a very good read indeed. I wish Mistopolous would write a few more like it.

I've been reading books similar to this one by Scarrow and Altimari and found Centurion:A Novel of Ancient Rome to be just as enjoyable. A previous reviewer seemed to think it was written with adolescents in mind, but I disagree. True...it is not exactly a Pressfield kind of novel, but I liked the story and all the twists and turns it took along the way. I can't say as I learned much more about the destruction of the three legions led by Varus in the Teutoburg Forest than I had gotten from a history book, but I wasn't looking for a history lesson anyway. I wanted to be entertained and that's exactly what this book did for me.

Not to be missed. Action, adventure, plot, insight, emotional depth, character development; that's all in here and then some. The writer has clearly done his homework on Rome and the Roman army. His attention to detail is both informative and entertaining. Mr. Brozyna, a reviewer from Annapolis, MD has it right, but some reviewers who have posted here can't seem to grasp the book's obvious worth. One reviewer also gets a fact wrong by saying the Greek physician walks from Germany to Rome. That's not accurate. He walks part of the way across the Italian peninsula, and for a good reason which I won't reveal here. And when another reviewer describes the book as being like a comic strip, that's simply not so. It's well-written and packed with depth. The human side of the story rings true on every page. There's also more than one surprise as the plot unfolds.
This novel combines mature insights with terrific action scenes. The disastrous attempt to capture a bear for use in the gladiator games is spectacular, as is the calamity that befalls the Roman legions when they are lured into the fatal trap. This tale is based on the massacre of three legions by Germanic tribes in A.D.9. Dr. Durham from Lookout Mountain, GA is on target by saying this is one historical novel you cannot pass up.

The story takes place in AD 9 and centers around an actual battle in history, the Roman defeat in Germania under the command of General Varius. Judging by the details given, it is obvious that the author did his research on life in the Roman army. The battle scenes are realistic, ferocious, and yet still keep the reader spellbound. The main character, Centurion Glaxus Valtinius, manages to keep his morality and mental balance amid an immoral and insane environment. His adventures take him from the battlefied to the city of Rome and an eventual meeting with the Emperor himself. This book was informative, entertaining, and well worth reading.

Enjoyed this novel very much. In addition to a great plot, there is actually character developement. Very rare in a novel these days. It's clear the author did his homework in terms of research and the historical accuracy is apparent. I highly recomend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

For those of you interested in the Roman legions, this novel has all the action and adventure you could want. The story focuses on an atypically moral, yet tough centurion amidst the events surrounding the Varian disaster. Due to the arrogance of an inept general, Varus, 3 entire roman legions, accompanying auxiliary forces and roman colonists were wiped out by german tribes in the Teutoburg forest in 9AD. The story has grand battles with, wild beasts, barbarians, as well as with corrupt romans. The author has defenitely done his research on the subject. He provides a good sense of the metropolitan nature of the roman empire. We meet italians, greeks, gauls, germans, egyptians, etc. He gives an accurate description of the weapons, equipment, politics, prevading beliefs, etc. common to the legions in the 1st century without being forced. These historical facts flow naturally in the course of his characters' actions and conversation, so the story is as much educational as it is entertaining.

This is an excellent book with action, intrique, and even a little romance. I especially enjoyed the inner workings of the century leadership and the professionalism and integrity of the main character. My only regret is that it was too short. I hope that Mr. Mitsopolus has another book in his hip pocket.

Although not a scholar in Roman history, on a lark and looking for a good short read on ancient Roman life, I was delighted and captivated by this well written novel that included all of the sought after components of an intriguing read! The author demonstrates excellent command of the English language and provides a cogent account of an episode set in A.D. 9 and based on actual history.

The characters in this novel possessed the spectrum of personalities, values, and ethics found throughout history. Undeniably to craft a historical account with believable characters is worthy of a reader's time.

It was difficult to put the novel down because of the care that went into the details that kept this reader intellectually challenged by the authentic period references. Because the author thoroughly researched the topic material, I found myself looking up various terms that are not part of a mainstream vocabulary. For example, there was a strong desire to look up the definitions of terms such as: "sestertius", "aurei" and "denari". Why? If not, you would not learn about ancient Roman currency.

The opportunity presented by the author's research will challenge a well-read intellectual to expand their vocabulary. If "spoor", "pommel", "cognomen" and "venal" were part of your mainstream vocabulary, then you would not appreciate this book. Finally, along these lines, the usage of a name such as "Avernus", and terms such as "triremes", "raeda" and "greave" were used very creatively.

In summary, I recommend this engaging novel for the reader who seeks a true story without being overwhelmed by a monstrous, overly wordy novel about ancient Roman military life.

As many have noted here, the story is a good one. However, I felt really ripped off paying over $20 for a PAPERBACK that is less than 200 pages long!

Rather than give you a plot line synopsis, this review will focus on what I came away with as being good and bad about the work.

The Good: Fast paced, pretty much of a page turner. I found myself reading quickly and looking forward to my next reading session. The author did a fairly good job of developing characters within a very few pages. There were no surprises or significant plot twists here, and it was easy to tell the "good guys" from the "bad guys". Action sequences are very well done, and his description of the battle itself was highly believable.

The Bad: Don't look for in-depth, deep-dive, historical information here - this is not "The Source" by Michener, or "Shogun" by Clavell. The author's writing style is a little simplistic - maybe a 9th grade reading level. A couple of nit-picky things bothered me and made the book less believable from a historical perspective. While in Germania, the main character runs into an old military friend who had recently been assigned to Judea. A conversation takes place between the two where they talk about a boy seen outside the temple in Jerusalem who was incredibly insightful and wise, this being a reference to the story from the biblical New Testament book of Matthew describing the boy Jesus at the Hebrew temple as a 12 year old. It annoys me that authors of historical Roman literature find it necessary to make references to Christianity, and in this case Christianity did not even as yet exist! In the book's climactic scenes in and around Rome the author makes a reference to the Pantheon - this event is happening in AD 9 or 10, and I believe the Pantheon was originally constructed in the AD 30s, with significant rebuilds following for the next one hundred years or so. These things were just distractions, but annoying nevertheless.

Overall, a decent read. At a couple of hundred pages you'll get through it quickly. All the comments you see in other reviews about the main character possessing 20th century sensibilities and morality are correct. His woman is also a little too good to be true as well.

I read the Kindle edition and there were numerous typos, mainly around punctuation. However, most of these were easily ignored.