THE EMPEROR'S VIRGIN

by Sylvia Fraser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 14, 1980

Fraser's clean and capable narration is here at the service of a most unclean subject--the last years of the increasingly mad Roman Emperor Domitian (51 A.D.-96 A.D.). Ostensibly a portrait of the politics of corruption (the author makes some curious inferences concerning Watergate and such), the novel is in fact a parade of tortures, bizarre sexual performances, executions, and blood-baths, memorable in variety and harrowing detail. Of the major characters, Maximus Marcus, soldier, engineer, and later senator, is the sole survivor. On his arrival from Egypt, Marcus hears the venerable Consul Flavius Clemens, cousin of Domitian, discuss the state of Rome under a ruler who kills on a whim, who's ""under the sway of dwarfs, concubines, slaves and spies."" And indeed, while in the provinces Domitian is known as a good administrator (""The further one gets from the seat of power, the fairer the rule is likely to be""), here in Rome, he's a disaster: shrewd, still nursing jealousy of his dead brother (the Emperor Titus), isolated, restlessly seeking satisfaction through sex and sadism. Among his victims: Consul Clemens is imprisoned in filth and killed; Julia, Domitian's niece and mistress, is strangled with his unborn child, through the connivance of the lusty, degenerate Empress Domitia; the playwright Priscus is horribly mutilated and killed at the scene of his satirical play; a much-loved Jewish servant, a friend to Clemens and his gentle wife, is disemboweled; and vestal virgin Cornelia against her vows falls in love with Marcus, is ravaged by the Emperor (who forces her to admit her passionate nature), and is buried alive--with ceremony. At the last Domitian is assassinated, echoing Caesar with a last gasp: ""What? All of you. . . ."" Riddled with atrocities--the tortures and deaths of slaves, children, animals, and leading characters--this may please those who found I, Claudius too tame; but most readers will hope that Fraser (The Candy Factory) takes a Roman holiday from the horrible in her next.

Pub Date: Nov. 14, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION