A challenging read. Fans of Roman history and historical fiction might enjoy this big novel about Caesar's rise to power- if they are patient and can deal with Latin in the text. This is heavy on minutia about Rome, which is interesting and oddly light on character and emotion. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm sure others will appreciate this more than I did.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

DNF at 5%

The writing style was completely not for me, unfortunately. The author chose to bounce in the time line and the entire narrative structure was basically delivered through very dense info-dumps in diagolue format. I am sure that the content is well-researched from the limited amount that I read, but the stylistic choice to break up the narrative into chunks to establish background, the initial petitioning of Caesar by the Macedonians for representation, then delving into the memories of Caesar's mother was just not a format I enjoy. This format continued through the rest of the book with a piece of the trial being followed by, what one would assume, is a relevant series of memories from an associated person.

I love Roman history, but will have to skip this one. I will also decline to rate this book on Goodreads/StoryGraph.

I cannot figure out who the audience for this book is meant to be. It goes into obsessive detail on random aspects of late republic Roman life, leaving little bits of latin untranslated until endnotes, but it also overexpounds on basic facts that anyone who's enough of a fan of ancient Rome would already know.

The whole book is over repetitive and stilted, constantly rehashing things said two paragraphs ago. Characters go on didactic lectures for paragraphs at a time, sometimes explainable in universe as part of the trial, but frequently also when speaking to friends or family, talking in ways that no human would ever bother doing.

I can't figure out if the books failings are a failure of the translation, or a failure of the source material, but I can't imagine this book achieving the massive popularity it claims to have abroad with English speaking readers. The whole thing is overlong, repetitive, and quite dull.

If it were edited to be half its length, I could easily give it four stars, but as it stands, I barely want to give it two. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and I will not be reading any follow ons.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on March 5, 2024.

This was a struggle to read and I didn't really care for the pacing or narrative planning. I wanted to love it. I liked elements so I will definitely look for more books by Posteguillo.


Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Maybe it’s the translation. but this book is a bunch of words without much story. There’s no narrative ARC to capture my interest. DNF.

I did not know quite what to expect when I delved into I am Rome by Santiago Posteguillo. But what I soon discovered on the pages intrigued me. History, law, politics, prophecy... so many elements were woven together with this novel. Having only studied Julius Caesar from an academic standpoint, this book succeeded in adding a whole new dimension to my perspective on this captivating man.
Dynamic, captivating, and rife with tension, I am Rome is worth the read. With its shifting plot and compelling characters, readers cannot help but fall into the pages.
I received this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

History tells us how Gaius Julius Caesar’s life ended. However, we know truly little about his earlier life and the events that contributed to the man he became. In I Am Rome by Santiago Posteguillo, we learn about his early life. We see him as a young man who wants to do the right thing. When he offers to defend some Macedonians who feel they have been wronged by the powers in Rome, he takes on a case that most of his family and friends feel will lead to his death. He loses the case, but he gains the respect and support of the people of Rome. This is the beginning of his successful political life. This is a rare glimpse into the history of the Roman Empire. Caesar became one of most successful leaders of Rome, the dominant power in the western world at the time. This is historical fiction at its best.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC of this novel. I really liked the concept of a fictionalized account of Julius Caesar's early legal career, but this was pure pulp. This was Caesar as some sort of 70s movie character who always gets his man even though nothing he does is particularly clever, Plus he's really good in bed. I ... just ... could ... not. Does not translate to American audiences.

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

I Am Rome (Roma soy yo) by Santiago Posteguillo is the first in a historical fiction series following a young Julius Caesar, making a name for himself and enemies while he’s at it. Mr. Posteguillo is a published Spanish author philologist, and linguist.

This is one of the best historical fiction books I’ve read in a while. The novel revolves around a 23-year-old Gaius Julius Caesar taking on Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, a corrupt Roman Bureaucrat, in court.

Like each of us, Julius Caesar is a man made from the sum of his experiences. Each step he takes in court, or in life, is based on something that happened in the past. I Am Rome by Santiago Posteguillo moves in time to show why Caesar is doing what he’s doing.

Caesar’s uncle, Gaius Marius, plays a big role in the book. He was a seven-time consul (unheard of), a popular military and civil leader. His young nephew adored him, but also bore the burden of becoming just as successful, or more than his famous uncle.

Each section is told through the eyes of a different character, whether it is Caesar himself, his wife Cornelia, Titus Labienus his best friend, or the antagonists Cinna, Dolabella, or Sulla.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed the trial aspect of the book. The strategy, procedures, and arguments made an exciting read just as much, if not more, than the description of battles.

I have to be honest and say that I don’t know much about this part of Roman history. I have no idea if the author was fictionalizing historical events, or making things up as he goes along. And I enjoyed the narrative too much to stop every five pages and search.

The only complaint I have was that the character of Julius Caesar wasn’t what I had in mind the little I knew about him. I thought he’d be more brutal, to be frank, but his strategic mind is on full display regardless.

This book goes into the story of Julius Caesar's early life and the trial he took part in as prosecutor against Dolabella, a corrupt senator who had a lot of power and had already bought off the entire jury. It's historical fiction at its best, richly detailed and exciting between the war saga flashbacks and the courtroom drama in the present, with a love story between Caesar and his wife Cornelia peppered in for good measure.

It's long, at 600+ pages, and probably won't appeal to anyone who would get bored of detailed history but for history nerds? Yes, yes, yes. This is a good one. At least I think it is.

I usually scroll through the reviews on Goodreads before I submit my own and all were in Spanish (it's translated from Spanish) except for one, and that one went into detail about historical inaccuracies in this book. I can't agree or disagree because I'm no expert on Roman history (my own history nerd focus is on early 1700s naval history/Golden Age of Piracy stuff and I don't stray outside that much), so I'm keeping this review at five stars because I enjoyed the heck out of it. I'm sure once it is released in English, more people will chime in on this, and I'll stay in my corner of recommending this to historical fiction fans!

The first in a series starring Caius Julius Caesar, this novel focuses on a young Caesar, lawyer for a Senator Dolabella, who is accused of corruption. We get to see a different side of Caesar, one that does not pinpoint his days as emperor of Rome, but his youth, vivacity and love story with his wife.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

If you think about Rome every day, then this is the book for you!

This book follows the rise of Julius Caesar and his origins as a nobody. I didn't know anything about Caesar's early life, and this book gave me an appreciation for how he went from a nobody to the Caesar we know of today. I guess you could say this story helped humanize him for me and gave me a better understanding of the odds he was up against.

However, this is a very history heavy book. It will be easier to follow if you already know the history because there are a lot of names and Romance customs and the like thrown at the reader right from the start. I had to read this in short bursts to keep it from feeling overwhelming. If you prefer fast-paced books, you might find this one a bit frustrating. But if you like a long slow burn, then this will be right up your alley.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me have an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I Am Rome is a complicated yet enjoyable story about the life and career of Julius Caesar. I found it a bit slow and had trouble getting into this one. Lots of characters to keep track of and a lot of history to get through. It is a long one so brace yourself. My favorite thing about this is the writing style, it is very well written.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for the eARC.

Julius Caesar---every legend has a beginning.

In this first book of a series to follow, the life and career of Julius Caesar follows his childhood and a couple of firsts: soldier Julius Caesar and lawyer Julius Caesar. These tales of courage, betrayal, power struggles, and beginnings are masterfully woven. Don't be daunted by the print length..you won't be able to put it down.
I'll anxiously await the next book.

this is very dry. i'm not going to lie. it's a tough read clocking in at over 600 pages. and being dry makes it a bit rough. if you think about the roman empire a lot, it's going to be for you... lol. if you don't it won't. i read this in short bursts. and found it was manageable in small 20 page bursts once in a while and enjoyable. however, it didn't really stick with me. solid b-

I have had a self-imposed rule that I never DNF an ARC, but this book is 600+ pages and the first 13% has been an absolute misery for me. I told myself I would give the book 20% before allowing myself to DNF, and then I got to an incredibly cringey sex scene between Julius Caesar and his wife and I just had to tap out. I'm not quitting this because of the boring prose, as this is a book in translation and perhaps it's more scintillating in its original Spanish. I'm quitting this because of massive info-dumping, confusing choices of name usage, and completely one-dimensional characters (so far). Perhaps the next 83% of the book is an engrossing masterpiece and I'm missing out, but life is too short and my TBR is too long. Mea culpa for requesting this ARC, but I've read other Roman history books, both fiction and nonfiction, that completely captivated me so I thought it was worth a try... Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for letting me try a digital advanced copy.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't even finish this one. I would like to give Mr. Posteguillo the benefit of the doubt and blame it on poor translation, but somewhere along the line this became a terribly-written book. It's full of repetitions and redundancies, and some bizarre choices about names - for instance, Caesar's and his father's full names were both "Gaius Julius Caesar" (something of a family tradition, it seems). In the many flashbacks to Caesar's youth it chooses to refer to the father as "Gaius Julius Caesar Sr." (and occasionally likewise gives Caesar a "Jr."), which just hits very wrong to me. It's simultaneously too modern and too ... encyclopedic, perhaps? Very out of place. It also keeps insisting on inserting more of people's names into the narration than necessary; several times it says things like "Aurelia [Caesar's mother] held her son, Caesar, on her lap" or even "Aurelia ... began to rock Gaius Julius Caesar Jr." -- we know who her son is! He is the only baby in this scene! Why are you saying his full name again?! It's like the author is either grasping for a higher word count or has a witheringly low opinion of the reader's ability to remember details from one page ago.

Setting aside the prose, which I was willing to give a lot of leeway for it maybe being the translator, the story itself was becoming eye-rolling. Posteguillo seems to lack all subtlety in his characters, with Caesar (or to a lesser extent Marius, in some flashback scenes) being a shining cartoon hero, and his opponent Dolabella being a mustache-twirling cartoon villain. The final straw for me was one scene which cut back and forth between the muscular, virile Caesar having athletic sex with his wife (who outright says he is "the best" at sex) and Dolabella, disgustingly fat, whipping several slaves because it's the only way he can get an erection now. Absolutely ridiculous.

If the book were shorter, I would have stuck with it out of obligation to NetGalley and providing a comprehensive review, but at more than 600 pages I don't think I can handle that. Sorry guys.

Thank you to NetGalley, Santiago Posteguillo, and Random House for this gifted ARC.

I am a sucker for stories featuring a clear underdog. I can't help but root for the little guy to prove everyone wrong. But, when I think about Julius Ceasar, I don't think underdog; I think "one of the most powerful military leaders of Rome." I think, "a name known by almost everyone in the world."

Yet, no one really talks about his rise to fame. Did Ceasar start off as a big, powerful force to be reckoned with? Surprisingly, no. Santiago Posteguillo dives into who Ceasar was before he was CEASAR and creates a fascinating tale that describes life in Ancient Rome.

I should point out that my husband is a history nerd. He probably thinks about the Roman Empire more than once a day. I never understood it until now. The tale of how Ceasar was basically a nobody, a man who had to fight for his life on numerous occasions, was deliciously captivating. I get the hype around him now. He was honor personified and had to rise to the top by sheer wits and luck. "I Am Rome" is a tale of how Ceasar was, in fact, an underdog who beat the system and created a world of his own imagining.

This is the only reason I am not giving this book 5 stars. There is a lot of history packed into this book. The premise is a trial, but the trial only makes up about 25% of the book. The rest are flashbacks and intense character development scenes, which I know Posteguillo will use for the second book in this series. While these parts are interesting, they are much slower-paced. The action does not pick up until you are about 75% into the book. HOWEVER, my husband severely disagrees with me and says the entire thing is perfectly paced. 😶

If you want to know more about Ceasar and Rome, then I recommend picking up this book ASAP. It truly is a fascinating look at how volatile Ancient Rome was. If this is not your thing, definitely buy it for the Roman Empire person in your life; they will not be able to put it down.

I like good historical fiction novels. I like the way they can make people and times come alive, and even though I may be familiar with the person and era, I always find I learn something. "I Am Rome" is an example of an excellent historical fiction novel. Even though I am familiar with Julius Caesar and his later life, I didn't know who or what influenced him when he was younger. This book fills in the blanks.

A somewhat naive twenty-three-year-old Julius Caesar is selected to prosecute a corrupt politician, and even though he knows the tribunal has been bought, he still thinks he can get justice for some of the people the politician has wronged. In a period when individuals are routinely assassinated for their political beliefs or actions, Caesar is putting his life in jeopardy by taking this case and going against the ruling faction of the Roman Empire. The story then uses a series of flashbacks to various periods in Caesar's life to illustrate how he came to believe he could take on the corruption running rampant at the time.

Author Santiago Posteguillo does an incredible job of depicting life in ancient Rome. This book has it all: villainous characters, epic battles, courtroom drama, and a gripping love story. All elements are woven together to reveal how Julius Caesar became, well, Julius Caesar. 5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is March 5, 2024.