Unto Caesar

by Emmuska Orczy

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Genres: Classics, Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

394 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Full name: Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi was a Hungarian-British novelist, best remembered as the author of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1905). Baroness Orczy's sequels to the novel were less successful. She was also an artist, and her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London. Her first venture into fiction was with crime stories. Among her most popular characters was The Old Man in the Corner, who was featured in a series of twelve British movies from 1924, starring Rolf Leslie.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Tarnaörs, Hungary, as the only daughter of Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, and his wife Emma. Her father was a friend of such composers as Wagner, Liszt, and Gounod. Orczy moved with her parents from Budapest to Brussels and then to London, learning to speak English at the age of fifteen. She was educated in convent schools in Brussels and Paris. In London she studied at the West London School of Art. Orczy married in 1894 Montague Barstow, whom she had met while studying at the Heatherby School of Art. Together they started to produce book and magazine illustrations and published an edition of Hungarian folktales.

Orczy's first detective stories appeared in magazines. As a writer she became famous in 1903 with the stage version of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Reviews

[Ellen]

I had no idea that Orczy was such a strong Christian. This is a fabulous novel, though I don't know if I agree with her application of "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's". I don't have a very carefully reasoned response; it just seems that when gross sin is happening, loyalty should not be the strongest driving force. On the other hand, I appreciated hugely the willingness of the hero to sacrifice everything, quite literally, for what he believed to be his duty to Christ.

All in all, I loved it. Orczy's characters, per usual, are the best.

[Selah]

Wow and wow! The emotion, the thought, the turmoil in this book is amazing. Baroness Orczy is a beautifully gripping writer, and this is one of her best works. Portrayals of Rome and historical figures are so right on and well done! How does she manage to create such wrenching, realistic plots and characters, that take place over a few days? :) Absolutely amazing.

[Lora]

I really enjoyed this. Sure, it was melodramatic. But I happened to read the scene of the poor Christians meeting together to worship their Savior as I was waiting to attend my own worship service. It added a certain gentle and deep sense of meaning to my own attendance.
Then there's the scenes in the Roman Colosseum!
Duality of personality aside, I place this book firmly on the shelf with Ben Hur and The Agony & The Ecstasy, if I still had them.
Good fast read.

[Bill Sanderson]

This book is occasionally overwrought but the Christian message is very clear. Taurus Antinor must choose between his love for Christ and his love for Dea Flavia. Following Christ means rendering unto Caesar those things that are his, even if the Caesar is a raving madman. But he makes the right choice and is rewarded in the end.

[George Banner]

Historically correct and thrilling book about Rome and its inhabitants and their loves under Caesar.

[Rod Innis]

This is a very different Baroness Orczy book; It is about a Roman soldier who became a very important official in Rome and how he had been transformed by listen to Jesus teaching and seeing Him die on the cross. it is about his struggle to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus and leave all the glory of Rome behind.

[Denise]

Selected this book to read because I love anything related to the Roman empire (plus it was available as a free read on my e-reader). I enjoyed the character descriptions of Caligula and Taurus Antinor (at first) but had a hard time believing the so-called innocence of Dea Flavia Augusta (relative of Caligula). She and the emperor were at the top of society. Roman emperors became emperors (and stayed in that position) because they were ruthless. Their relatives accepted the existence of power plays and worked within the system (and sometimes out of it) to maintain their own power and status positions.

The author would have the reader believe that Dea Flavia was a protected child with no experience of reality. Her young girl's crush (and resulting mental/emotional turmoil) on Taurus Antinor was a perfect case of a spoiled brat being denied something she wanted. And the HEAVY religious overtones were overpowering. I had to force myself to finish the book.

A great book for those who are looking for stories to verify their own personal religious beliefs.

[Italo Italophiles]

This slow-moving historical novel set in Ancient Rome is something to read when you have the time and patience for the heavy descriptive blocks, and the "thees" and "thous" that fill the dialog. That was the style when the book was written, to have people from the past speak more formally than the present.

Writers have long enjoyed imagining how Christianity made its way around the Empire and into the palaces of the Emperors, up to the time when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire. This is one such novel.

Read the full and illustrated review at Italophile Book Reviews
http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot...

[Yibbie]

Exciting read through most of it. Graphic descriptions of the Coliseum. Tending to the over dramatic through most of it. The love story was very predictable. The part I didn't like was the twisting of Scripture. Jesus' sacrificial death is twisted so it is no more to redeem us from sin, but to establish the divine right of kings. So sad.

[JennanneJ]

Downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg.

[Sonal Panse]

Emmuska overdoses on the religion here. It would have been a better story without that.