My Agrippa: Love, Loyalty, and the Fall of the Republic
27 BCE. My Agrippa creates a fictional love story between Octavia, sister of Octavian, who later became Caesar Augustus, and Marcus Agrippa, a brilliant military leader and Augustus’s right-hand man. The relationship between Agrippa and Octavia mostly plays out in their respective, imagined memoirs and letters.
The book starts out with young Agrippa and Octavian in school and training, followed by the murder of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, and then outlines Octavian’s rise to become the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus. Through Octavia, we hear of Marc Antony’s betrayal, not only of her, but of Rome, and it is written so well.
Some of the most vivid and compelling scenes in the book are the portrayal of Cleopatra, her capture, and the aftermath. Her description is quite different than one might read in a legend. These scenes stayed with me long after reading the book.
Marcus Agrippa is portrayed as a Stoic and a brilliant military commander. The constant struggle and drama between many of the elites centers around who gets to become Caesar Augustus’s successor, and marriages, divorces, and children all play a part. Agrippa marries and divorces at the whim of Caesar, as does Octavia. Through the musings and actions of Octavia and others, we see marriage among the elites in the Roman Empire as a duty to be endured, and nothing to do with love.
The fictional memoirs and letters of Agrippa and Octavia are used skillfully by the author to portray the end of the Roman Republic and beginning of the Roman Empire. Through Agrippa we see battle and military strategy, and through both of them we see the life and politics of Rome. Well researched and compelling. Highly recommended.
