#conspirata

[quotian]

When Cicero had first explained his plan to me the night before, I had been privately appalled, and I anticipated that the straight-laced Sanga would feel the same way: that he would throw up his hands and perhaps even storm out of the room at hearing such a monstrous suggestion. But businessmen, I have since come to realize, are the least shockable of characters, far less so than soldiers and politicians. You can propose anything to a businessman and he will usually be willing at least to think about it. conspirata - robert harris

[keanthegooseman]

Conspirata | Series Review

Series: Cicero Trilogy (Book #2)

Author: Robert Harris

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Publication Date: October 8, 2009

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"-any rash fool can be a hero if he sets no value on his life, or hasn't the wit to appreciate danger. But to understand the risk, perhaps even to flinch at first, but then to summon the strength to face them down - that in my opinion is the most commendable form of valour-"

Conspirata is a fictional tale based on real Roman history, reframing it into a captivating novel filled with suspense. Taking place during 63-58 B.C., Conspirata tells the story of Cicero, a Roman orator, during his consulship and the years following its conclusion. During the events preceding his inauguration as consul, the body of a young slave is discovered, bludgeoned in the head with a hammer, throat slit, and his organs harvested. 

I thought this book was amazing. I never expected a novel focused on politics with Ancient Rome as a backdrop to be so enthralling, and yet here I am captivated by the story Robert Harris has created. The story is told through the viewpoint of Tiro, a slave and Cicero's personal secretary. From what I read in the author's note, Tiro was the first to record a Senate speech verbatim, invented a form of shorthand called Notae Tironianae and traces of it ("&," "etc.," "i.e.," "n.b.,"  ''e.g.") are still used to this day. 

The plot is fast-paced, filled with secret plots and political strife. There is always something going on in the story, keeping you on the edge of your seat constantly. Surprisingly, there are moments of humor scattered in the book, which I found myself chuckling at. While there are some slower moments in the plot, they're usually the calm before the storm, and those moments will fill you with a sense of anxiety and a general sense that something bad is about to happen. The writing style of the book is also not difficult to understand, which I personally liked. The politics of the novel was also intriguing and well-defined without being bogged down by too many details.

The characters were well-written, with most of them having distinct personalities, and sometimes having ambiguous motives so befitting for a political fiction. Cicero in particular was great. He was written as a well-spoken, intelligent, moral, and cunning individual with a sense of humor. But even with all these strengths he doesn't win every battle, he falls victim to his own pride, indulges in his popularity, and at times he just doesn't know what to do, which makes him a more relatable figure. I also enjoyed the appearance of Julius Caesar, the one name I distinctly recognize. Acting as an antagonist, Caesar feels like a formidable opponent to Cicero, going toe-to-toe with him on several occasions. 

I don't have much to criticize, but if I had to nitpick, I would have liked it more if we had gotten to see Cicero's speeches more often. In the book and in real life history, Cicero was an accomplished orator, famous for his speeches. While we do get to see him speak on several occasions, we only get parts of his orations. There was also a subplot involving Tiro and a female Greek slave, which I felt came out of nowhere, and was minor that its exclusion wouldn't have impacted the story in any way.

Filled with action, politics, great characters, and rich in history. The story is so enthralling that I forget that the characters and events were based on real people. This was my first time reading any of Robert Hariss' works, and after reading Conspirata, I am obliged and excited to read the rest of his novels. Another thing, after I had finished reading, I learned that Conspirata was the second book in a series, with the first being Imperium. Luckily, I didn't feel like I was missing a lot of details from neglecting to read the first entry.

[eighthdoctor]

bwaaah. That's a bit disappointing. In that case, what about books? What kind of books or book series are good, that are genuinely interested in telling the stories of the time period they're set in (ideally while still being good stories)?

WOLF HALL READ WOLF HALL I WENT ABSOLUTELY INSANE.

uh. this is super rome focused bc that's about all i read historical fiction for, but Colleen McCullough writes fucking bricks that are well grounded in attitudes of the time period. they are unfortunately also racist/homophobic but WHAT CAN YA DO, also they're easily each 300 pages longer than they need to be. Steven Saylor has a very good rep, mystery isn't my genre but I read one and liked it. I remember enjoying Robert Harris's books on Cicero (at least Imperium and Conspirata, Dictator wasn't out when I read them).

The Golem & The Jinni and When the Angels Left the Old Country are both historical fantasy set in the early 1900s. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is about the golden age of comics.

Eric Flint's 1632 series and Flint & David Drake's Belisarius series are both uh. 'Portal' historical fiction??? 1632 is about a WV town transplanted to 1632 Germany, and the Belisarius series is about a far future AI that chooses the 530s as The Ideal Time To Change. Both have A LOT OF FLAWS AS BOOKS, are not really into critiquing like. social structures. But 1632 in particular spends a lot of time poking at How People Were Different (or the same) Back Then.

...I don't read a lot of historical fiction, as it turns out.

[libridistillati]

In politica un cuore tenero è sempre percepito come un segno di debolezza

Robert Harris in “Conspirata”

Per quanto non considero fare parte del consiglio comunale in un paese di meno di 3000 abitanti, di fatto lo sono.

Chi mi conosce sa che la politica non mi appassiona né ho il carattere per essere lì: faccio fatica a parlare in gruppo e a farmi notare.

Eppure sono lì. Mi fa piacere aiutare il mio paese e in un certo senso voglio dimostrare la mia convinzione che le idee valgono più del carattere.

Ho ragione? Anni di studi di comunicazione mi danno torto, lo so, ma voglio essere ottimista.

[just-a-random-dungeon-master]

I was reading this really good book called Conspirata (by Robert Harris) and I recommended it to a friend, and a different friend read the back cover, and I kind of forgot that the first sentence is about a child sacrifice. Upon questioning, I responded that it was real, which only made them more concerned.

Oops.

[woodsteingirl]

im so obsessed with the descriptions of clodia in historical fiction…

attis, tom holland // the venus throw, steven saylor // the kings gambit, John Maddox Roberts // conspirata, robert harris // caesar’s women, colleen mccullough// counting the stars, helen dunmore

[skippyv20]

Celebrating our Collective Intelligence!

Hi Skippy & All Friends-Pilgrim here-just so appreciative of how “savvy” & smart this fellowship is. Thank you Anon, for your lengthy research efforts to let me know more about what I was picking at. For us and the quieter ones who visit here, it is imperative that we keep the tom toms going, watching like hawks, the new ways to deceive us and our loved ones, separating us from our finances for their quasi agendas.

As we follow the leads, no matter what side of the aisle we sit on, it is so important we take off any rose tinted glasses, remove the extensions on our blinders and see things for what they really are. If we are saddened well then, so be it. Truth is a gift to work with. The older we get, we accumulate life time data on the ebbs and flow of human events, experiencing the tipping of the scales too much to one side forcing the other to fight for a correction. Humans can be beautiful or horrifying. History is our mirror. Here with Skippy offering us an incredible platform to keep informed and stay emotionally balanced (so much happiness everyday) we all have an opportunity for clarity that is much bigger than our local communities.

Just that power alone would have changed the course of history time and time again. I just finished (boot/cast kept me on the coach) reading books by Robert Harris called Imperium and then  Conspirata.  OMG-Cicero with his fantastic Tiro, fighting Roman political corruption any way he could in 60+/- BC could read like tonight’s news. Frustrating for sure wondering why mankind and it’s ego can’t get out of its own way.

So, my thank you note is just trying to say, right now, we have an opportunity like no other time in history to make a difference by being aware of the global happenings swirling around us. We currently have the freedom to chose what is right for us and our families and the power to act on that, which is amazing, understanding how far we have actually come. Over & out from a damp day on the Cape where the Tulips and Daffs are so cheery.

Thank you Pilgrim!😊❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

5/04/21

[venceslaugama]

Quando estavam os homens da rua da Relação na pista do que, depois, qualificaram “Conspiração do Cabuçu”, ofereceu-se para trabalhar pela legalidade um rapaz vistoso e insinuante, jogador sem escrúpulos, mais ou menos explorador de mulheres, mas, como quase todos os da sua laia, amparado por proteções e recomendações imerecidas. Aproximou-se do general Santa Cruz, o famigerado Cérbero presidencial, e propôs os seus serviços no descobrimento de uma conspirata. Avalizou-o o general ao marechal, que o pôs em relação com a sua polícia política. Diria o rapaz que adrede se metera no movimento revolucionário, porque, muito amigo da situação, queria prestar-lhe o seu concurso desinteressado, livrando-a de terríveis inimigos. Nomeou alguns, pessoas de destaque, já suspeitadas. Começaram as notas, os bilhetes diários de informações, tendo sido posta à disposição do precioso delator uma turma de agentes. De chofre, surgiu um embaraço: os conspiradores, com os quais pretendia estar em contato o moço muito amigo do governo, tinham-se esgotado, não podiam fazer face a uma despesa de fabricação de bombas, na importância, aliás módica, de cinco contos de réis. Era imprescindível arranjar uma prova material, positiva, que comprometesse os conspiradores. Nenhuma melhor do que as bombas, que, conforme o costume, seriam guardadas em lugar previamente combinado com a polícia política. Recebeu assim, sem muito custo, o rapaz simpático e prestadio a quantia destinada a comanditar, por conta do governo, a empresa revolucionária.... Era exatamente o que ele necessitava para sair do Rio, com a amante polaca, rindo dos que caíram no “conto da conspiração”...

Evaristo de Moraes. “Uma 'espécie' criminal dos últimos tempos: o 'conto' da conspiração”. Correio da Manhã, 8 de março de 1927.

[ineffablegame]

I like both Conspirata and Pompeii by Robert Harris. One was loaned me by my Latin teacher, the other we read in class, so they’re accurate enough for someone who actually teaches the topic, tho it’s been a while since I’ve read them, so I can’t speak to that from memory. I just remember enjoying them.

Thank you!  I’ve put those on my TBR list.  I really appreciate it!

[kashilascorner]

The Robert Harris' Cicero trilogy be like:

Imperium - the cursus honorum, courtroom drama, strong and full of life

Conspirata - political intrigue, hubris, exciting moments and bad calculations

Dictator - drama, coming to terms with death, depression, the inevitably of death

[ruminativerabbi]

Return to Munich?

I spent the week leading up to Shavuot reading Robert Harris’s excellent novel, Munich, which I enjoyed very much and somehow hadn’t gotten to until now. (I usually read books made into movies before seeing the film, but made the mistake this time of reversing the order. The movie, starring Jeremy Irons, George McKay, and Jannis Niewöhner, was good enough—but I found the book to be far more compelling.) Nor was this an unusual choice for me: I’ve been a huge fan of Harris since his 1992 breakout bestseller, Fatherland, and have read all of his books published since then. I especially liked his “Cicero” trilogy (the books were published in the U.S. as Imperium, Conspirata, and Dictator), which books were and are the best and most exciting lawyer-novels I’ve read. But Harris’ several books that are set against the background of events leading up to or taking place during the Second World War (Fatherland, Enigma, Munich, and V-2) are in a class by themselves. I recommend them all.

I was drawn to read Munich specifically because of the parallel I am seeing increasingly clearly between the situation facing the world in 1938, when the Germans were about to go to war for the sole purpose of seizing the territory of a country—in this case Czechoslovakia—that it felt had no “real” right to exist, and the one facing us now in 2022, as Russia pursues a war of ruthless brutality against a neighboring country regarding which its leader feels similarly. Nor are those the only parallels: the fact that a serious portion of the Czechoslovak population in the region called the Sudetenland was made up of ethnic Germans who spoken German as their native tongue and who regarded Germany as their homeland gave Hitler the fig leaf he at that point still felt he needed to justify invasion as liberation, not at all unlike the way that Vladimir Putin has attempted to justify his invasion of Ukraine with reference to the 17.5% of the Ukrainian population that self-defines as ethnically Russian.

The world remembers Neville Chamberlain, British P.M. from 1937 to 1940, as the quintessential appeaser, as the man who famously signed over the territory of someone else’s country to the Germans for the sake of preserving “peace in our time,” words that have come to have—to say the very least—a hollow ring when spoken against the background of what was yet to come. (The Munich Conference of 1938 took place precisely so that France and the U.K. could feel good—or, at least, less bad—about stepping back from their unambiguous commitment to defend the territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia so that the Germans wouldn’t need to start an actual war to seize the territory they wished to acquire.) The point of Harris’s novel is to provide some shading for that portrait of Chamberlain as a gun-shy coward who was prepared to do anything at all to keep Hitler from going to war, much less as a fool who lacked the insight to see through Hitler’s phony assurances that the transfer of the Sudetenland to German control constituted the sole territorial adjustment that Germany wished to make to the map of Europe.

The ”real” issue, Harris suggests, was the fact that there was no way imaginable that Britain could have won if war had broken out in 1938—at which time the Royal Air Force  had exactly twenty fighter planes “with working guns” to protect the entire nation—and that behind Chamberlain’s endlessly mocked decision to hand over a serous chunk of someone else’s to Germany was his need to stall for time so that Britain could be far more ready to fight before war actually did break out. And, indeed, it seems quite correct that the outcome of the Battle of Britain was as it was precisely because it began in the summer of 1940 instead of in 1938. When a nation is motivated by the almost certain knowledge that it is about to face a ruthless foe in all-out war, two years can be a long time!

I have been drawn to reading about Munich lately because I see a certain level of Ukraine-fatigue setting into our national approach to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. No longer a front-page issue unless a significant number of civilians are killed, the war has settled into our national consciousness as a bad thing happening to someone else’s country by an aggressor nation we hold no sympathy for…but who we also have zero interest in actually going to war against.

Nor am I intuiting this based on my own survey of the news: President Biden published an essay in the Times just last week in which he made that precise point unambiguously and plainly. The President started off by explaining that our goal in Ukraine is straightforward and clear: our nation wants, he wrote, “to see a democratic, independent, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.” And then he went on to opine that, in his opinion, only a diplomatic solution will serve truly to end the conflict. Nor did the President look away from the fact that the Russians do not seem eager or even slightly inclined to resolve the conflict peacefully. Indeed, our commitment to continue to provide the Ukrainians with the kind of arms and rocket systems they will need to keep the Russians from winning the war is rooted, he wrote clearly, in the assumption that those negotiations will come about precisely when the Russians finally realize they have embarked on a war they simply cannot win.

And then the President got to his real point. “So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked,” he wrote unambiguously, “we will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces. We are not enabling or encouraging Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.” So that was clear enough and the President’s principles were no less transparent. We want the Ukrainians to win. We will provide them with billions of dollars’ worth of arms. We will stand by them diplomatically and emotionally. But we will not enter this war. In other words, we’ll do what we can—but if the Ukrainians lose, they will have to live with the consequences of their own defeat. (To read the President’s essay in full, click here.)

Is Joe Biden our Neville Chamberlain? Or, to ask the same question in different words: is our decision to support Ukraine with money and guns but ultimately to leave the Ukrainians to their fate the moral equivalent of the decision of the French and British more than eighty years ago to denounce the German threat to invade Czechoslovakia but ultimately to leave the Czechs and Slovaks to theirs? The parallel is not exact. The Brits and the French specifically did not send massive amounts of money and arms to Czechoslovakia. The Germans specifically hadn’t invaded and were only threatening to—and the Munich Agreement actually did result in a peaceful transfer of territory without simultaneously plunging the world into war. But it also gave the Germans another year to prepare their offense and to stockpile their weapons so that when, a year later, Germany unilaterally invaded Poland (and without first asking the permission of the U.K. or France), their success in crushing the Poles was more or less guaranteed. Where things went from there, we all know—so the real question, the one that matters, is what would have happened if the Munich Conference had never taken place, if Germany launched a military invasion of Czechoslovakia, and if the U.K. and France had gone to war forcefully and aggressively in 1938. Would Germany have been defeated? Would the rest, including the Shoah, never have happened? If the French and the Brits had honored their commitment to Czechoslovakia’s territorial integrity, would events have quickly led to regime change in Berlin? Would the U.S. have joined such a principled, just war against a ruthless aggressor state…or would FDR still have dithered until the Japanese finally forced our hand?

These are tantalizing questions that have no answers. Czechoslovakia’s so-called allies declined to honor their commitments and allowed themselves to feel good about betraying an ally by telling themselves that Hitler probably meant it when he insisted that his troops would only cross the border into another country this one single time. Putin too has indicated that he has no plan to occupy the countries of the former Soviet Union one by one, much less that he hopes to paste back together the old USSR and recast it as a new Russian Empire. Nor, of course, does the fact that Hitler betrayed his own pledge necessarily imply that Putin will. In the best-case scenario, Ukraine wins. In the second-best-case scenario, Ukraine loses and Putin honors his commitment to attack no other nations. Well worth noting is that no nation of the former Soviet Union is a member of NATO, so all Putin really has to do to avoid a World War with the West is to keep his hands off of Finland and Sweden, supposing they manage to join NATO. If the West wouldn’t intervene to save Ukraine, why would anyone expect it to intervene to save Latvia or Moldova? I suppose we all know the answer to that question. And so, of course, does Vladimir Putin.

Looking back, there are lessons to be learned. Of them, the simplest are that buying bullies off rarely works in the long run, that peace and appeasement are similar concepts only etymologically and not at all politically, and that fantasizing that giving in to a bully’s demands will somehow discourage that bully from making even more demands is folly. For the moment, the Ukrainians appear to be holding their own. But time is on the Russians’ side—and in a very big way. So the real question is what we will do if the tide turns dramatically and a Ukrainian defeat seems imminent. That is the question to which we, the people, should be demanding an answer and which the President specifically failed to address in his op-ed piece. We should be demanding the answer to that question now, long before we have actually come to that crossroads and have to make a game-time decision which path to take forward.

[conspiratafilmes-blog]

Comida refrescante e linda pra comer com os olhos também!! Olha que show de apresentação! 😍👌 #comidalinda #comidasaudavelegostosa #comidavegana #veganfood #veganbrasil #veganbh #veganosbr #marketingdigitalbh #restaurantesbh #Assertividade✌🤓 #comidalinda #produtoraconspirata #conspiratafilmes #conspirata (em Belo Horizonte, Brazil) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwxULAbAT43/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=67fbtjrfkzv

[starsandsteelandbrokenglass]

April 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

We’re finally into spring proper and it’s been more or less a good month! Maybe not quite as busy as March, but definitely a lot going on as my semester winds down. Definitely got to do more for-fun reading this month than last: 12 books total (~4500 pages), which is actually one less than last month but only one was for school this time. And they measured up as follows:

Leisure Reading: 

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee- 3.75/5 stars

Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1) by Sue Lynn Tan- 3/5 stars

The Ivory Key (The Ivory Key #1) by Akshaya Raman- 3.75/5 stars

Little Thieves (Little Thieves #1) by Margaret Owen- 4/5 stars

Imperium (Cicero #1) by Robert Harris- 4/5 stars

Conspirata (Cicero #2) by Robert Harris- 4/5 stars

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore- 5/5 stars

Horrid by Katrina Leno- 3.25/5 stars

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger- 3.75/5 stars

The Gilded Ones (Deathless #1) by Namia Forna- 2/5 stars

All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle- 3.25/5 stars

Academic Reading:

Weeping for Dido: The Classics in the Medieval Classroom by Marjorie Curry Woods

My favorite book this month was The Mirror Season--a really heavy read, but beautiful too, as McLemore’s stuff usually is. Not so much academic reading--more articles and book chapters than full books this month as I finish up my seminar paper and prepare to get my Master’s in May!

Currently Reading: Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan

[anisioluiz]

Mourão é um troglodita inepto até para conspiratas. Por Maringoni

Mourão é um troglodita inepto até para conspiratas. Por Maringoni

Publicado originalmente no Facebook do autor: Por Gilberto Maringoni Hamilton Mourão foi humilhado e pisoteado em praça pública, com requintes de sadismo, por Bolsonaro, nesta quinta (28). “Se quiser escolher ministro, se candidate em 2022”, sentenciou o titular do Planalto. Mourão é um obtuso, cuja cabeça só serve para seguidas aplicações de Henê Maru, que […] Fonte: Mourão é um troglodita…