Marching with Caesar

Birth of the 10th Legion

By: R.W. Peake

Narrated by: Simon Burdett

Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Titus Pullus, the hero of the 10th Legion and the Marching With Caesar series, tells his story from the very beginning of his life, starting with his relationship with his father, how his friendship with Vibius Domitius began, and how their burning ambition to join the Legions was helped by a veteran nicknamed Cyclops. Enlisting in the 10th Legion, raised in 61 B.C. by Gaius Julius Caesar, Birth of the 10th Legion recounts the first campaign ever conducted by Julius Caesar as a commander, when he quells an insurrection in Hispania, as seen through the eyes and from the perspective of the men like Titus and Vibius who actually did the fighting.

©2012, 2014 R.W. Peake (P)2014 R.W. Peake

Can't Wait for the Next Installment

I always enjoy a good historical novel and this first installment of Peake's book about Caesar's 10th Legion really fit the bill. I had a hard time turning it off and can't wait for the next audiobook.

Great start to a good series!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Titus Pullus because he is a young Roman man that is fighting to make something of himself. Through the legions and army life he is going to make that happen.

What about Simon Burdett’s performance did you like?

Did a fine job of keeping excitement in the characters and I never felt like his performance deterred from my listening.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could have listening in one sitting if I had that much time but this was a listen that I did finish rather fast!

An excellent read

As an active duty service member, Titus' account is distantly familiar, and I enjoyed reading this view of the life of a legionary. The main character is likeable and human, and is very believable. I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in military history. Give us the rest of the series on Audible!

Love it!!

Felt like I was there with Titus and the Tenth legion and all the legionary's.

Freaking Awesome.

I loved this audio book. Wish more in the series were available via audiobook. I would buy them in a heartbeat.

Gripping historical fiction story

Where does Marching with Caesar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've been listening to audible books since 2011 and this is one of my best purchases. It merged my love of history with attention to detail. I somewhat discovered this audible book by accident as I almost didn't buy it based on it's cover which looks pretty boring.

What did you like best about this story?

Best historical fiction book that I've heard. It is also about a period of Caesar's campaign in- Spain, that I did not know about.

Which character – as performed by Simon Burdett – was your favorite?

Main character Titus Pillus who apparently did exist. Btw, the various British street accents of the different characters were highly entertaining.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. It did however, make me listen more than my regular car journey.

Any additional comments?

This is 1 of 6 books but unfortunately, this is Volume 1 is the only one I find on Audible as of Jan 2015. I'll keep my eye out for future releases

phenomenal

My only disappointment is that this is the only audio book in the series! fantastic storyline, excellent character creation and history come together, and to life.

Great listen

I enjoyed the audio version as much as I enjoyed all of the Marching with Caesar series.

Great story, but narrator needed help

If you could sum up Marching with Caesar in three words, what would they be?

Legionary, coming-of-age, compelling

What other book might you compare Marching with Caesar to and why?

The Simon Scarrow Eagles of the Empire series

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Simon Burdett?

ANYONE. I likes his accent, but his annunciation was atrocious. He nearly always treated a comma as a full stop ("Why not?" demanded Reumus...[three second pause], who of all of us seemed to be the angriest."), full stops as barely resting points, and strange inflection, so you weren't sure what phrases went with what. His often slurred, especially when he wasn't telling a battle story. One on occasion, the entire point of a section was that a legionary got the nickname "Achilles." I reversed and listened to it nine times, but couldn't make it out. Fortunately, he said it again later, when it was more clear.

The editing was terrible in many areas, in which you could tell a part had been re-recorded. The sound was different, and it took away from the story every time, since you'd have to figure out what you'd just heard.

His accents for the different characters were fun and inventive, though they equally shared in the slurring and cadence issue.

Other examples of cadence and rise/fall of sentences:
should have been: "We were compelled to stay out overnight."
was: "We were compelled to stay. Outovernight."

should have been: "So we turned back to our foe, who were just sending forth their slingers, appearing to number about 80 men."
was: "So we turned back. To our for, who were just sending forth their slingers. (2 second delay) Appearing to number about 80 men."

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Coming of age in Rome's legions

Can't go wrong here

I went into this book a bit skeptically. I honestly don't remember buying this book and could only guess that I bought it at a discount or on a whim. Whatever prompted the purchase, I didn't start it for several months. It was not till this week, needing an audible book to listen to while cycling, that I gave it a try. I sure am glad I did. I am hooked!

Narration: The narration is excellent, both in tone and pacing. Simon Burdett captures the personalities of the various characters adeptly and uses his voice to make them feel like fully real figures. Kudos to him for perfectly capturing the author's intent. Of course, it helps that he had a great story by Peake to work with.

The story: The author provides a brief, useful, and scholarly introduction to some Roman terms. Don't worry, that scholarly tone ends immediately. For the rest of the book, we listen as Titus Pullus, a retired hero of Rome, directly dictates his memoirs to a trusted slave (who sometimes inserts a comment of his own). Titus takes us back 50 years to his childhood, explaining to us how a poor farm boy with no mother and an alcoholic father came to become a great soldier of the legion.

I had limited expectations because I figured that it would be almost impossible for the author to write about a young man joining the military in a way that would feel fresh or original. I was wrong. As Titus remembers his challenges and experiences, the events and outcomes are constrained and influenced by Roman culture and law in ways that regularly take you by surprise. But while Peake must have done enormous amounts of research to so fully immerse us in a different world, he found the perfect way to introduce that knowledge. Titus simply speaks to us if we are his friend, off-handedly remembering events, cultural norms, and legalities as if we know and accept as if they were a shared experience of our joint past. This is a terrifically effective approach for the author to take because Titus speaking directly to us keeps us totally immersed in the events as if we are with him. We start to feel a sense of comradeship with him, even while getting regularly surprised by these "facts of life" that are so far from modern life that it keeps the story consistently fresh, unpredictable, and exciting. I think it is a terrific accomplishment.

If you like either military or historical fiction at all, this is a great book and a great performance. As the book was halfway through, I found myself thinking, "I sure hope there is another book or two in the series after this!" What I discovered is that there are something like 15 more in the series, but they are not all on audible yet. That leads to my confession. I took the time to write this review in the hopes that more people read it, prompting the author to bring the rest to audio!

Bottom Line: Great characters, totally fresh take on the genre, great use of historical details in a fun way, and great narration. You can't go wrong with this one.