Finished reading on: July 29, 2006
The Birth of Rome
Title of the original version reviewed: «La nascita di Roma»
AI Translation Notice: This review was translated from the original Italian using artificial intelligence. Book quotes and excerpts are translated interpretations and will not match the author's original English phrasing or official published translations.
The book chronicles the events surrounding the birth of Rome through the story of two brothers, Servio and Plistino.
Enslaved, they flee to find freedom in Rome, which was then coalescing around the figure of Romulus.
The two brothers make their fortune, but Servio is unable to have children, and Plistino’s descendants perish in a plague.
Servio and his wife resolve to adopt one of the brothers of Plistino’s wife so as to perpetuate the family name.
The novel features all the most celebrated episodes of the founding of Rome, yet the style and storytelling elevate when dealing with domestic themes: the love between spouses and the bond with children, death and grief, a religion centered on the veneration of ancestors, adoption as the expression of a love that transcends ties of blood, and the values of justice and freedom.
The pedagogical intent is less pronounced here than in Storia delle Storie del mondo, yet the prose retains that affectionate, gentle, and at times lyrical tone distinctive of the author.
The narrative structure is often fragmented, lacking the momentum required to keep the reading from growing tedious at times (particularly in the middle section).