The Gates of Rome — ★★★☆☆
A fun adventure set in the early days of Gaius, soon to be Julius Caesar. It’s entertaining historical fiction, but very heavy on the fiction - Conn Iggulden clearly wants to tell a story, and a lot of the historical nuance gets sacrificed along the way. Some big-picture events are simplified or invented, but if you can set that aside, Sulla and Marius in particular make for standout characters.
The story of Julius and his best friend Marcus had me checking the real history a few times it was slightly confusing (I thought he was another famous Marcus). The “fivesome” of heroes are fun is a little simplistic, the one with mild magical tendencies is an odd but amusing touch. The action scenes are well done, though the main cast never feel in real danger. Some dialogue leans a bit forced and heavy on exposition.
I loved Iggulden’s Sharpe series as a kid and his Genghis Khan Conqueror series more recently, this one doesn’t quite reach those heights but still hits the spot if you’re a fan of the author or the era.