Dictator by Robert Harris Review

Dictator is the final chapter in Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, recounting the great Roman’s final fifteen years through the eyes of his faithful secretary Tiro. And I was really hoping it’d be better than Lustrum and as good as Imperium but unfortunately it wasn’t.

Cicero lived through exciting times of tumultuous change but a lot of it happens at a distance away from him, so a lot of uninteresting things take centre stage instead. His pointless wandering in exile, his politicking against various Roman notables - Clodius, Crassus, Pompey, and of course Caesar - his dull family dramas involving his wife Terentia and daughter Tullia, and retiring to write philosophy all read like Harris slowly wading through his research on Cicero’s life. There’s little inspiration with the material and Harris’ style feels very workmanlike and boring, like he was fulfilling a contract.

By the time I realised it wasn’t going to be a good book, I told myself to finish it anyway as I’d abandoned Lustrum a few years ago and had to re-read it recently to get to this book, so I didn’t want to have to re-read half of this book again in a few years if I end up wondering whether it somehow turned out to be good in the end.

The occasional scene perked up my interest: mostly anything with Caesar, and Harris did surprise me in that regard. I thought the book would end with Caesar as Emperor but it goes on beyond that - and by “that” I mean “that” famous scene, which was remarkably written. Cato’s fate was similarly engrossing and it was nice to see Tiro, our narrator, have some good things happen to him. It is a very informative book too - I learned a great deal of the Roman world of this time.

The Roman republic descending into civil war and ultimately dictatorship sounds like fertile ground for a stonking read but Robert Harris fails to make any of it gripping. Dictator is an underwhelming finale and such an overlong snore of a read - I wouldn’t recommend it at all. I really feel like Harris’ output post-Fear Index has been severely lacking any of his earlier brilliance. All his novels recently have been so utterly tedious, it’s hard to believe this is the same writer who produced The Ghost and Enigma. With regards his Cicero trilogy, I’d recommend reading the first book, Imperium, and skipping the rest.