The Last Assassin
Autor Peter Stotharden Limba Engleză Paperback – 14 oct 2021
Analizând datele furnizate de editura W&N, descoperim în The Last Assassin o perspectivă inedită asupra uneia dintre cele mai documentate perioade ale antichității. În timp ce istoriografia tradițională se concentrează adesea pe figurile lui Brutus și Cassius, Peter Stothard mută reflectorul asupra lui Cassius Parmensis, un personaj aflat multă vreme la periferia cronicilor istorice. Putem afirma că volumul funcționează ca o punte între biografia politică și cronica militară, urmărind campania de paisprezece ani a lui Octavian de a-i elimina pe toți cei implicați în Idele lui Marte.
Merită menționat că structura narativă este susținută de contrastul dintre brutalitatea vânătorii de oameni și latura culturală a lui Parmensis, care a fost poet și marinar. Această abordare completează perspectiva oferită de The Death of Caesar de Barry Strauss, care analizează asasinatul ca punct de cotitură între republică și imperiu, adăugând o dimensiune umană și individuală procesului de epurare politică ce a urmat. Dacă The Death of Caesar se axează pe evenimentul în sine și contextul imediat, lucrarea lui Stothard extinde orizontul asupra consecințelor pe termen lung și asupra destinelor individuale ale „micilor” complotiști.
În contextul operei sale, The Last Assassin continuă explorarea puterii romane începută în Palatine și Crassus. Stothard își păstrează interesul pentru modul în care ambiția personală modelează structurile statale, însă aici tonul este mai tensionat, adaptat unei perioade de război civil. Ritmul este alert, transformând cercetarea istorică într-o relatare ce rezonează cu dinamica unui roman polițist, fără a sacrifica rigoarea academică necesară în categoria de istorie clasică.
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Specificații
ISBN-10: 1474613160
Pagini: 288
Dimensiuni: 128 x 196 x 24 mm
Greutate: 0.26 kg
Editura: Orion Publishing Group
Colecția W&N
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom
De ce să citești această carte
Recomandăm această carte cititorilor pasionați de istoria Romei care doresc să depășească mitul shakespearian al lui Brutus. Veți descoperi modul implacabil în care Octavian și-a construit autoritatea prin răzbunare. Este o lectură esențială pentru a înțelege cum sfârșitul unei republici este scris nu doar prin bătălii mari, ci și prin eliminarea sistematică a opoziției, totul relatat cu finețea unui autor care înțelege profund cultura antică.
Despre autor
Peter Stothard este un distins scriitor și jurnalist britanic, fost editor al publicației „The Times” și al „The Times Literary Supplement”. Expertiza sa în istoria Romei antice este dublată de o experiență vastă în analiza puterii politice contemporane, vizibilă în lucrarea sa 30 Days. Prin volume precum Horace și Crassus, Stothard s-a impus ca un maestru al portretizării personalităților antichității, reușind să combine rigoarea documentării cu un stil narativ modern și accesibil. Lucrările sale sunt recunoscute pentru modul în care aduc la viață detaliile cotidiene și psihologia personajelor istorice.
Descriere
'A political thriller, and a human story that astonishes' Hilary Mantel
'Atmospheric and gripping, and [his] scholarship is impeccable' Greg Woolf
Many men killed Julius Caesar. Only one man was determined to kill the killers.
THE LAST ASSASSIN dazzlingly charts an epic turn of history through the eyes of an unheralded man. It is a hunt that an emperor wanted to hide, of torture and terror, politics and poetry, of ideas and their consequences, a gripping story of fear, revenge and survival.
Recenzii
Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome. An implacable dictator cannot rest happy until each of his father's many killers is dead. A gripping history for today of how the assassins of Julius Caesar fell one-by-one, with ever fewer places to hide, before the vengeance of a would-be emperor
Half thriller, half elegy for a lost Republic, The Last Assassin traces the after-shocks of Caesar's murder as one by one the conspirators were eliminated to make way for a new Roman order. Stothard's writing is atmospheric and gripping, and his scholarship impeccable
The Last Assassin is a compelling true-life thriller, profoundly researched, beautifully written, and a dire lesson in what happens when idealism meets tyranny and political freedom dies
Stothard's history of the hunting down of the murderers by Antony and Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and heir, who are first accomplices then bitter rivals as they each seek the throne, is a riveting, fast-paced thriller that makes one think of the brutal settling of scores at the end of The Godfather
[A] gripping, gorgeously written new account of the killing and its consequences ... Stothard explores the familiar ground with fresh, engaging and learned eyes, displaying a novelist's knack for redolent and evocative detail, from cicadas and lizards to the press and horror of battle ... Stothard is excellent on the machinations and murmurings that recruited the killers ... the excitement and danger of the times are skilfully drawn ... Stothard weaves wonders from threads ... This book reminds us powerfully of the supreme importance of individual freedom against an overweening state; of being able to speak truth to those in authority
In this stimulating book, Peter Stothard focuses on the less-heralded players in the aftermath of Caesar's murder, tracing the period through the varied ends of his killers - in battle, by suicide or at the executioner's hand ... Stothard's compelling book gives shape to the political infighting, combining vivid personal detail ... Stothard writes with a poet's eye for atmosphere and a novelist's imagination in reconstructing events ... he also draws on a deep knowledge of the Roman context, and a sensitivity to the human complexity of events; his account stresses above all the plotters' uncertainty, fear and misery. All in all, this is a striking and evocative treatment of this transformative period
The Last Assassin is the most immediate account of Caesar's murder I have ever read. Even though the outcome of the Ides of March is one everybody knows, Stothard manages to endow it with something of the urgency and tension of a thriller
Peter Stothard knows how to deploy the telling diamond stud of a detail - whether in Senate debates, sea battles or describing the fusion of poetry and propaganda ... Stothard has woven a taut thriller from scant historical threads. But most of all this is a story of principles and the fight against tyranny, and all the better for focusing on one of history's forgotten players
Stothard's portrait of Parmensis as a tragic poet - a Thyestes was among his works - and keen Epicurean philosopher certainly humanises him. He emerges, indeed, as a most sensitive killer. If his initial motivations remain shadowy, then his gumption and determination to stay alive - or at the very least stare death honourably in the face - reverberate clearly through Stothard's tense and thrilling narrative
The excellent Last Assassin by Peter Stothard is a group biography of the killers of Julius Caesar, including Cassius Parmensis ... Stothard has a good eye for revealing questions ... The tale also is told with the genuine elegance we have come to expect from this author
First murder, then mayhem. Mark Antony, determined to avenge the assassination of his pal Julius Caesar, sent his henchmen far and wide to hunt down his killers. One of those nasty fellows was a bloke called Publius Cornelius Dolabella, renowned as a rapist. His sidekick, known only as the Samarian, was a sadist handy with a heated knife, who also had a stretchy torture machine called the Horse. Peter Stothard, former editor of The Times, presents ancient Rome told in the style of a Coppola Mob movie. Wonderful detail and great fun.
Vivid, dramatic, evocative, and a unique narrative line tracking the assassination and its aftermath
A thrilling account of the vengeful manhunt for Julius Caesar's assassins. Most readers' knowledge of the assassination in 44 B.C.E. ends with the bloody deed, but Stothard brings its aftermath to pulsing life... Stothard writes as if he lives and breathes the air of this tumultuous time. His readers will feel, for a brief time, that they are there as well. A deep immersion in a bloody era of ancient Rome, perfect for readers of Mary Beard and Tom Holland
A writer of rare talent... he weaves a tense, fast-paced tale from the many strands of a turbulent era... The vigor of Mr. Stothard's prose, and the acuity of his insight, will propel many readers... into an ancient Roman world that is startlingly real
Notă biografică
Peter Stothard is an author, journalist, and critic. He is a former editor of The Times of London and of The Times Literary Supplement. His books include Alexandria, The Last Nights of Cleopatra, and On the Spartacus Road, A Spectacular Journey through Ancient Italy.