Dominus is the third part of Steven Saylor's ambitious trilogy of novels in which he has attempted to tackle the story of Rome from its pre-history to the fourth century CE, culminating in Constantine's conversion to Christianity. This is a fascinating book, very much in the tradition of Edward Rutherford's novels Sarum and London, and one which would be invaluable for a student or teacher wanting to gain a broad overview of a period of history with which they might be unfamiliar.
Dominus begins in CE 165 in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and moves at a cracking pace through the subsequent events down to 326 CE and the reign of Constantine the Great. Initially this book did not hook me in the same way that some of Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa detective novels have. This is the downside to such an ambitious and epic project, as the speed of travel can be a little bewildering. However, it is well worth persevering with and, overall, this reviewer enjoyed it immensely. The story of Rome is told from the perspective of a series of members of the Pinarii, a patrician family whose roots can be traced back to the beginning of Rome's history. Saylor has modelled his leading family on real characters from the historical record, though it is clear that he has relied upon much invention to flesh out the bones of their story. The Pinarii are a family of craftsmen and writers and this puts them into close contact with a series of imperial regimes. Thus, Saylor is able to explore key political and social events from the viewpoint of his leading characters. The broad scope of the book does make it a little difficult to truly connect with the various members of the Pinarii, but Saylor does a good job of representing their ambitions, worries and achievements.
One of the best parts of this book is the way in which Saylor explores some of the more eccentric and famous figures from Roman history. The physician Galen is a prominent character and it is clear that Saylor has researched widely, using the extensive records that we have of Galen's writings, to construct a believable and enjoyable character. One thing which prospective readers should be aware of is that this book will take time to read as it will spark lots of questions and you will undoubtedly find yourself needing to look up lots of the references to find out what really did happen and what is Saylor's invention. He weaves these two things seamlessly, making it difficult to judge without checking. I won't ruin the story, but I especially enjoyed his account of Galen's ultimate demise at a grand old age. Saylor's presentation of the emperors Commodus, Caracalla and Elagabalus are especially chilling – the sense of fear and unease felt by the various members of the Pinarii is communicated very effectively and, even though I knew how the stories of these emperors would end, it was interesting to experience through the eyes of a prominent Roman with much to lose, rather than from a sterile 21st century perspective.
One area of Roman history which has long confused me is the third century crisis, following the death of Alexander Severus. Saylor does a superb job of conveying the confusing series of events, choosing particular vignettes to focus on in detail, whilst not labouring any of his points. I was lucky to have read this book in hard copy; I do think a Kindle version might be more difficult as I did spend time flicking to the maps and family trees provided, as well as double checking which year we were now in. However, this is an issue with e-books generally, rather than a criticism of this work in particular. This would be an excellent summer reading task for a student or teacher who wanted to gain a good oversight of this period of history before embarking upon some more academic research. Helpfully, Saylor has provided detailed notes at the end explaining which sources he used in researching his book and this would be a great place to begin any further reading.
The final thing which I enjoyed was the descriptions of the artworks supposedly created by the Pinarii family throughout the book. I found the account of the Arch of Constantine especially interesting, given the well-known academic debate about whether it represents a decline in artistic standards within Rome in the 4th century. Saylor's take on this is that this was thanks to Constantine himself who demanded ‘can't you just reuse bits and pieces of old sculpture…use the bric-a-brac that's lying all about the city’. The presentation of Constantine overall is not especially generous, which makes a refreshing change from reading some of the more contemporary accounts of his reign given by early Christian writers. The theme of Christianity and the threat that it poses to the old Roman religion is explored throughout the years of the book and is cleverly reflected in the title; at the beginning and throughout ‘Dominus’ relates to the emperor but, by the end, it is a new master that is in charge of Rome's future. Overall, I highly recommend Dominus and I now plan to read parts one and two to help fill in other gaps in my knowledge.
Open access
