Imperium

Robert Harris's fictionalised biography of Cicero in three parts, as told by his slave and confidential secretary Tiro. At the time of writing, the first two parts, Imperium and Lustrum have been released, covering the period from Cicero's elevation to the Senate until the end of Caesar's first consulship and his departure for Gaul.

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This series has examples of:

• The Alcoholic: Antonius Hybrida
• Affably Evil: Crassus, most of the time.

... trying to fix precisely what it was about him which made him so disconcerting, I think it was this: his indiscriminate and detached friendliness, which you knew would never waver or diminish even if he had just decided to have you killed.

• Bald of Evil: Crassus. Caesar is also noted to be losing his hair.
• Big Fancy House: Several; one becomes a plot point in the second book.
• Black and Gray Morality: Sometimes it's difficult to tell who the heroes are meant to be.
  • This is particuarly noted in Lustrum when Cicero takes rather dubious methods in his consular year: bribing people, rigging ballots and later taking bribes. He's not as above corruption as people think he is.
• Blue Blood: The aristocrats take themselves and their position very seriously.
• Break the Haughty: Lucullus, although he didn't deserve all of it.
• The Butcher: Mentioned as an old nickname of Pompey's, although we don't see much evidence of it in the books themselves.
• The Chessmaster: Crassus; Caesar.
• Coitus Uninterruptus: Tiro walking in on Caesar and Pompey's wife.
• Colonel Badass: Metellus Celer.
• Complete Monster: Catilina, or so Tiro would have us believe.
  • Cicero accuses Caesar of this, but YMMV, of course.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Lucullus, although Tiro believes this is more a distraction from depression than anything else.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Crassus.
• Courtroom Antics: Part of Cicero's success comes from his practically inventing this trope to win popular approval. See also Rousing Speech, Simple Country Lawyer.
• Crowning Moment of Awesome: Cicero's speech about Verres' crimes in Imperium which leads to such loud cheering that the awnings that are covering the forum fall down from the noise.
  • Cicero's opening speech as consul, derailing Magnificent Bastard Caesar's plan completely
• Driven to Suicide: Suggested a couple of times as a "way out" for characters down on their luck. Apparently did happen to Catulus's father.
• Every Man Has His Price: Much of the first book's plot involves Cicero trying to stop Crassus bribing various members of government to block his legislation, while turning down bribes himself. Things get a bit more complicated in the second book.
• Everyone Is Related: Most of the major aristocratic characters are related to each other by marriage (or extramarital affairs) at least.
• Femme Fatale: Clodia.
• Foregone Conclusion: Particularly in the first book, Tiro makes allusions to what (we know from history) will happen towards the end.
• "Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Cicero thinks he has one of these throughout the second book, thanks to his connections with Pompey and Caesar and his public popularity.
• Glad I Thought of It: Pompey is said to do this a lot
• Heel Face Revolving Door: Caelius Rufus.
• Heel Face Turn: Hortensius, although precisely when it happens is hard to determine.
  • Possibly in the first novel when he comes into the forum and shakes Cicero's hand before the consular election?
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: it is not Hortensius who Heel Face Turned to Cicero's side, but Cicero who Face Heel Turned to side with Hortensius and the aristocrats.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Half the cast. YMMV on whether they were actually as bad as they appear.
• Historical Domain Character: Almost(?) the entire cast.
• Impoverished Patrician: Catilina is bankrupt; Caesar is so far in debt he has to flee the city.
• The Ishmael: Tiro
• Karma Houdini: Caesar, most notably.
• The Last DJ: Cato gains a lot of respect for his uncompromising old Republican ideals, but it doesn't mean anyone agrees with him or does him any favours.
• Literary Agent Hypothesis
• Magnificent Bastard: Caesar; Crassus on occasion. Cicero himself manages it once or twice.
• Meaningful Name: Cicero comes from the Latin word cicer meaning "chickpea", Cicero keeps a bowl of chickpeas in his atrium.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Celer, as Tiro notes in his earliest appearance, is a lot cleverer than he seems. Pompey thinks he is cleverer than he seems, although it's not entirely clear whether he is.
• Pet the Dog: Catilina congratulates Cicero on the birth of his son in such a way that, for a moment, he's almost likeable.
• Rousing Speech: There are many, but the two best are Cicero's speech at Verres trial in Imperium and his speech in the Senate in Lustrum where he confronts Catilina. Both are based on historical record.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Crassus pretty much defines this trope.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Hortensius is supposedly the king of this trope.
• Shown Their Work: Harris wants you to know that the books are meticulously researched, although tries to work this in naturally. Occasionally he slips up.
• Simple Country Lawyer: Crassus tries this in one Senate hearing. It works.
• Smug Snake: Lucullus and Hortensius, at least at first. Pompey too, although he has yet to suffer for it.
• Took a Level In Badass: Several characters- Clodius, Rufus, Caesar, even Cicero himself, at the start of the first book.
• Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking: Pompey making his Cincinnatus speech, which has been written down for him by Cicero. It actually works.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Pompey.
• Unreliable Narrator: Played with. Tiro repeatedly points out that he's trying to be honest about Cicero, regardless of whether it shows him in the best light. He has no such restraint with a couple of the characters whom he dislikes.
• Write Who You Know: Harris was friends with a number of figures in the New Labour government; the second book is dedicated "to Peter" (Mandelson) and there are a number of conscious echoes.
  • And it's a book about the man who practically invented the use of empty rhetoric to win votes. Funny, that...
  • Harris has also noted in interviews the similiarities between Cicero and Barack Obama.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Caesar tries to dissuade Cicero with this. Twice.