Persian Fire by Tom Holland

[nj1]

So on recommendation by members of the chrons, I'm currently reading Persian Fire and am about half way through. I will post my thoughts on the whole book when i've finished it.

In the beginning of the book the part titled 'The KhorasanHighway', Holland describes the beginnings of the persian empire. The main character to stand out from this section for me was CYRUS, I also enjoyed reading about Darius ofcourse, but Cyrus has struck a chord with me.
I was wondering if there are any historical fiction novels based on this remarkable character?
He lead such an extraordinary life that surely someone has written a book or two on his exploits.
From his mad grandfathers attempts to wipe out his heirs and the baby cyrus' survival, to the battles fought and the birth of his empire, the way he tamed other nations by not only victory on the field of battle, but by leading the populus to believe he was chosen by thier gods to rightly reign over them.

In the book Xenophon, an Athenian, had written around two hundred years after his death;

'He eclipsed all other monarchs,either before him or since'

Perhaps it's just my lacking knowledge on history, but until now I have never heard of Cyrus and I find myself thinking, Why Not?

 

[Stenevor]

I read it a couple of weeks ago and thought it was pretty good. I had little knowledge of any of it beforehand and it seemed to be a decent introduction to the period although it was a lot to pack into 300 pages. Unfortunately due to my terrible memory I would have to read it again to really get a grip on it all, there are an awful lot of names to keep track of.

When I started it I was expecting the whole thing to be told from the Persian point of view whereas its more like equal thirds Persians/Spartans/Athenians. I found the Greeks story a lot more interesting than I thought I would. Its a miracle they werent wiped out, they seemed to be fighting against each other most of the time. Athens in particular seemed to be in constant chaos untill Themistocles came along.

Its encouraged me to read a bit more about ancient Greece if nothing else.

 

[nj1]

I know what you mean about the names, whew, i'm still trying to remember who's who as i'm reading it. The athenian's were possitivlely mental, let someone rule as 'tyrant' or 'archon' banish him for a few years, (eventhough he did a really good job), then let him come back if they need him.
I've just read the part about the battle of marathon and Xerxes has assended to the Persian throne, eager to take the largest army of the known world to Greece. Things are hotting up to say the least.

 

[Stenevor]

Rubicon is just as good if you have any interest in Rome. Its especially good if you watched and liked the Rome TV show and were not too sure where they were taking liberties with the plot .

 

[svalbard]

I know what you mean about the names, whew, i'm still trying to remember who's who as i'm reading it. The athenian's were possitivlely mental, let someone rule as 'tyrant' or 'archon' banish him for a few years, (eventhough he did a really good job), then let him come back if they need him.
I've just read the part about the battle of marathon and Xerxes has assended to the Persian throne, eager to take the largest army of the known world to Greece. Things are hotting up to say the least.

Yes, the Athenians were crazy. I remember reading that they condemned the son of Pericles to death for loosing too many men in battle against the Spartans, even though they won the battle. Not to sure of the name for the battle, but it was at sea. I think it is mentioned in Steven Pressfields book Tides of War.

 

[nj1]

Finished it last night and I must say to anyone who's interrested in ancient Greece/Persia to give it a read. I really enjoyed reading the background to the Persian empire, especially how they came to conquer most of the middle east. Also the events leading to Marathon,Thermopylae and Plataea and the 'birth' of democracy.

Svalbard,
The most amazing exile for me was Thermistocles, savour of Athens and the innovator of the Athenian fleet, Kicked out of Athens for amazingly, amoung other made up reasons, 'being right all the time'.LOL.

Stevenor,
I think Rubicon will be shortly added to my Reading list, sadly missed the TV show as I'm not big into TV shows, but having read Conn Igguldens EMPIRE series, a delve into Ancient Rome is definatley on the cards.
One question, is Rubicon written in the same style as Persian Fire?

 

[Stenevor]

One question, is Rubicon written in the same style as Persian Fire?

Yes, it starts with some background on Rome for the first 40 odd pages than goes into more detail starting after 100BC with Sulla untill Octavian becomes Augustus. Loads of names to try and remember again, Lucullus and Cicero being my favourite "characters".

 

[nj1]

I'm guessing that the book is based on the imfamous crossing of the Rubicon Rive by Julis Ceasar, against the wishes of the senate who didn't want to see him enter Rome with his legions?
If so i'd be interrested to read more about how the senate escaped to Spain and the resulting battles.
If you haven't read Igguldens Empire series, I'd recommend it to you, though not strictly factual, thier still a good read with plenty of action, (the battle against Vercingetorix was excelent).

 

[svalbard]

Yes, it starts with some background on Rome for the first 40 odd pages than goes into more detail starting after 100BC with Sulla untill Octavian becomes Augustus. Loads of names to try and remember again, Lucullus and Cicero being my favourite "characters".

Lucullus is a great character and in history he is overshadowed by Sulla and Caesar. If not for Publius Clodius, Lucullus might have gone done as one of the greatest generals of all time.

Cicero was a poser, and I think his letters testify to this.

 

[svalbard]

I'm guessing that the book is based on the imfamous crossing of the Rubicon Rive by Julis Ceasar, against the wishes of the senate who didn't want to see him enter Rome with his legions?
If so i'd be interrested to read more about how the senate escaped to Spain and the resulting battles.
If you haven't read Igguldens Empire series, I'd recommend it to you, though not strictly factual, thier still a good read with plenty of action, (the battle against Vercingetorix was excelent).

Hello Nj1,

I have debated this with Connaver before, but I feel obliged to repeat it here. Colleen McCullough with her Masters of Romes series does a far better job than Iggulden. She really gets into the gossip and detail of what Rome may have being like and presents the reader with some memorable characters.

Her books also cover the period from Gaius Marius to the rise of Augustus, over a hundred years of history. They are big books, but I would highly recommend them, especially if you are interested in how the senate of Rome worked.

 

[nj1]

Thanks for the reccomendation Svalbard, hadn't heard of her before but will look her up. I'm still somewhat of a begineer when it comes to historic novels, mostly read fantasy up to now.

 

[dreamhunter]

This might be obvious, but the attraction of HF, cf SF/F, lies in its being about, or revolving around, real guys, real times, real things, in the past. Well, at least according to someone's construction of the story.

To me, both Khouroush (Cyrus) and Daraya (Darius) stand equal to, perhaps even greater than, any ancient European conqueror. Alexander included.

There were many Cyruses n Dariuses, of course. But the ones most impactful were Khouroush-e-Bozorg (Cyrus the Great) n Daraya-e-Bozorg (Darius the Great).

They were not only great conquerors, but also amazing builders n consolidators. They planted n grew a vast, resilient pan-cultural realm - starting with their Hakhamanesh (Achaemenid) Dynasty - that withstood n weathered time, numerous foreign invasions, political intrigues & conspiracies n stuff. That kept regrowing n reblossoming under several names. From 559 BC, with Cyrus, right all the way to the Qajar Dynasty in the 19th century.