Emperor

by Colin Thubron

Book Overview

The Emperor Constantine crosses the Alps at the head of a great army from the Rhineland in AD 312, and marches south to take Rome from the tyrant Maxentius. As he lays siege to the city of Verona,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140134522
• ISBN13: 9780140134520
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS LTD
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

An original idea evetually limited by its form

Emperor by Colin Thubron is a mightily ambitious novel. It describes the conversion to Christianity of the emperor Constantine the Great, the circumstances of which are unknown. But this was an event that changed human history. This single event elevated Christianity, previously a minority sect amongst many, to the status of official religion of the Roman Empire. Thus it became the religion of a continent, a status it has never lost. What is so original about Colin Thubron's book, however, is its form. The novel is constructed as if it were a sheaf of documents by different authors. The entries are arranged by date, but are constructed as if assembled from a jumble of material stuffed at random by an incompetent clerk into a satchel that was then lost. The author thus assumes many voices, many forms, many perspectives. Constantine has embarked upon the final phase of his conquest of Rome to establish himself the undisputed leader of the empire. He was in York when his father died and Maxentius, his wife's brother, usurped the throne. Constantine must therefore raise an army and conquer his way to power all the way from the north of England to the imperial capital. Emperor takes us from the boundaries of Verona to the outskirts of Rome, the progress described via the jottings of several characters. Constantine's own journal is the centrepiece. In it the emperor muses on military tactics and the progress of war. But we also discover a sensitive, emotional character often preoccupied with significance deeper than the mundane. The letters and jottings of Fausta, Constantine's wife and sister of the pretender Maxentius, show how little those involved are able to express or trust their own feelings. Constantine is besotted with her, but she always demands a distance. We are never completely sure of her motives - or loyalties, for that matter. Synesius, Constantine's secretary, has seen it all before. His often witty musings offer both context and interpretation. Hosius, Bishop of Cordoba, is the Christian voice that travels with Constantine's army. His reactions to events are always fundamentally different from what the other characters expect or predict. And there are other minor characters, lesser voices that add further detail and different perspectives. One of the book's great achievements is its highly effective portayal of the pan-European character of Constantine's alliance and its consequent religious diversity. It seems that there was a real free market in Gods at the time and we quickly feel the need for a unifying cultural and ideological force to match the political and military presence of Constantine. And so the Emperor's personal needs and pragmatic concerns suddenly coincide and the charismatic presence of Hosius assists. Overall I felt that Emperor did not quite achieve the ambition of its inspiration, however. In the end the originality of the form became a limitation, constricting the author's ability to convey both background

Brilliant and beautiful

What really happened on the 24th of October, A.D. 312? Thubron's narrative, composed of bits & pieces of fictional journal entries, letters, etc. by various concerned parties, begins on the 23rd of August of that year and ends on the 27th of October - the day *before* the battle of the Milvian Bridge, which is mentioned only in an endnote. His focus is relentless: Constantine's vision of the flaming cross and all that led up to it. When it finally comes, that vision is described and assessed by no fewer than six different observers. But it's pretty clear that Thubron's own view is expressed, in the end, by these words that he attributes to Tetricus, the Praetorian Prefect: "I believe that Constantine did not have a vision of light. No. He had a vision of darkness and chaos. He saw a universe without order, or God, or any meaning at all...Constantine, unable to endure what he had seen, spread the Christian cross over that unthinkable abyss..." Not a happy or cheerful book. But brilliant and beautiful.

A jewel

This book is one of my favourite novels, and brings together my interests in history, philosophy, and theology perfectly.Written in the form of memoirs of the various characters, the novel covers Constantine the Great's march on Rome culminating in the battle at Milvan Bridge (312AD). The book centers on Constantine himself on the eve of his "miraculous" conversion to Christianity, and his struggles during the campaign - religious, martial and marital. The characterization of the Empress Fausta and the aging Synesius are perticularly adept.Highly recommended.