The Forum

I choose Renius only for the fact fact that he surprised me. I knew of Ceaser and Brutus, but Renius being new, just caught me by surprise.

Marius. What a man! He inspired Caesar to do his thing and make his legion his own. Truly all Caesar's power came from his legions as they were loyal to him first and foremost and then loyal to Rome.

A brutal but very awe inspiring scene in the book was when Marius led soldiers to the senate to demand his right for a tribute and after the crowds gathered and he became swamped all it took was one sentence. " Make room for your General " and his soldiers went into action.

It is quite difficult to pin a favourite character as so many of them were fantastically portrayed. I could not vote for Brutus as he turned on Julius not just once but twice! He may have had a valid reason, that he did not feel that Julius deserved or respected him enough but if he was a true friend he would see through that or atleast have spoken to Julius about it!

I, too, picked Marius. It must have been awe-inspiring to watch this magnificent general speak, command and lead you to battle. He died a great warrior's death. Marius is also my middle name and I was so elated to see Mr. Iggulden use him in his Emperor books.

Dude, i picked Brutus cus' he stayed with Julius even though he was being overlooked by Julius all the time, but reading the last book, i was like 'NOOOO' when he left to join Pompey, totally sympathise with Julius now.

Saddest day for both Julius & Marcus, I'm sure

Tubruk because he is simply such a good person.

I would say Gaditicus, Tubruk, Marius and of course Caesar

I picked Alexandria, cos she had no votes and I liked her part, especially in the first two books. So many great characters. Was so upset when Tubruk was killed off too.

My favorite character was Julius Caesar, but a close second was Pelitas. I guess I kind of liked the sailor. I also really liked Ciro.

Hi all
Cannot believe I have not been on this forum for nearly a year . Came on to try and get the order the books went in ! well in my case the audiobooks as I listen to them in the car as most of my time is spent driving. I have been listening to Simon Scarrow Audios not bad but needed to get a fix of Conn & decided to listen to the Emperor 's again and the Wolf , Lords, Bones again too, ready for the 4th book in september can't wait. O yes & Brutus is my fav, Top swordsman Friend and some one to look up to and respect .
latersz

It has to be Julius, the main man of the story and easily the best character of the whole series. A complex character in life, that has been brought to life very well i think, in this series.

I chose Renius, simply because I see a lot of myself in him. It is quite unfortunate that he didn't really exist, but it is believable that he did. He made a man out of boys, and made them tougher than nails, while still being humble and loyal to his friends. A very noble man, imo.

My favorite was Sicero... He was little seen in the Emperor series, but some would say had just as much influence on Western society as did Ceasar. Robert Harris has written a trilogy on acient Rome featuring Sicero with Ceasar as the antagonist.


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et tu Brute?

For me it was a difficult choice between Tobruk, Cabera & Renius, but in the end I opted for Cabera, mainly because of the spiritual aspect of his personality interlaced with humour. A one off character that shouldn't have worked with the others, but did so supremely well.
Tobruk was a character I loved in a fatherly way. Quiet, efficient, strong & utterly reliable, he was the rock of the estate, and the rock in the boys early lives. (Only read Gates of Rome so far, but that will change soon!) Renius, of course, was the gruff, rough, foul mouthed genius that turned the boys into men in a way that no other man could. If Tobruk was the rock in their early lives, then what Renius gave them was an inner rock that was to serve them, and serve them well, for the rest of their lives. I think many of us have had our own version of Renius at some stage in the past - I know I have - and his tough, no nonsense, matter-of-fact ways brought it all back to me.

I chose Brutus because I really liked him until he killed Ju**us (spoiler!!!!) in the last book!!

I vote Renius because he's so hard yet there's obviously some love in him for the boys. Then realised I should have voted Marius just because he's totally amazing

Has to be Brutus really, Julius is almost an equal in my affections but in gates of rome when Brutus defeats the blue skin krajka is awesome.

I had to pick Brutus. He stood out for me. He felt like an old friend or maybe even a brother. I think he reaches you on that human level. You can put yourself in his shoes and his struggle. You know from the time he was born, he was racing to his death. He seemed somewhat innocent and playful like we all were at some time. The world was heavy for him. His "brother" was changing; he was changing. His destiny found him no matter how he tried to loose it in his fading friendship and those he loved. He tried to understand the people around him but all he could see was how his world was crumbling. He tried desperately to hang on, trying to gain some kind of footing; some kind of control. He found it with his gladius. He decided to forget all those before him and started his name off with himself. He would forge the legend of his family with his own hand. Yet, still even when he was a governor of Gul, happiness didn't follow. The stillness he desired didn't come. The quiet, and ear crushing silence of his breaking friendship was speeding to an end. Soon it would be friend against friend; brother against brother.

I put in a single vote for Crassus... simply because he was one of the characters in the series who achieved personal mediocrity so well. Writing a villain or a hero is easy, I think, but capturing the uneasy balance of somewhat noble desires and ignoble preferences in a rich old man who likes his creature comforts isn't so easy. I thought he was very thoughtfully written for a supporting character, and his scenes with Servilia were fun to read.

Then again, maybe I just have a thing for older men. Who knows.

/applause

Well said

For similar reasons I picked Brutus. Blademaster, Vagrant, son of a 'woman of ill repute' & Gave Ceasar his Legion.

It must have been difficult to write a character that everyone knows will betray the hero & still make him accessable.