最高权力 (2006)

《最高权力》是英国作家罗伯特·哈里斯于2006年出版的历史小说，是一本描述罗马共和国政治家西塞罗的想像传记，以西塞罗的机要秘书提洛为第一人称写成。

剧情

这本小说描写西塞罗早年的政治事业，直到他被选为执政官。它有三个主题：盖乌斯· 维尔斯（一位腐败的省长）的审判；涉及庞培以及他的对手克拉苏斯的政治危机；西塞罗的选战，以及当选执政官。

Imperium is a 2006 novel by English author Robert Harris. It is a fictional biography of Cicero, told through the first-person narrator of his secretary Tiro, beginning with the prosecution of Gaius Verres.

The book is the first in a trilogy. The second volume, Lustrum (Conspirata for U.S. audiences), was published in October 2009. The third volume, Dictator, was published in 2015. Publication of the sequels was delayed whilst Harris worked on other books, including his contemporary political novel, The Ghost, inspired by the resignation of Tony Blair.

The book was serialized as the Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 from 4 to 15 September 2006, read by Douglas Hodge. An abridged audiobook on compact disc, read by British actor Oliver Ford Davies, is available. Unabridged audiobooks on compact discs are also available, read by Simon Jones and Bill Wallis.

A theatrical adaptation of the trilogy by Mike Poulton was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in 2017, and transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in London in 2018. The two plays were directed by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran, with Richard McCabe as Cicero.

Plot summary

Part One – Senator – 79–70 BC

The book opens with Tiro, the secretary of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the book's narrator, looking back in time over the thirty-six years he was with his master. After a brief background covering Cicero's vocal training under Apollonius Molon, the narrative shifts back to Rome with Cicero being visited by an old acquaintance, Sthenius of Thermae. Sthenius reveals that he has fled his home in Sicily to escape its governor, Gaius Verres, who runs the island like a protection racket. After some hesitation, Cicero takes the case, despite opposition from Verres’ powerful allies among the senatorial aristocracy, who do their best to undermine him from the start.

After several false starts - including pledging to aid Pompey the Great, only to be snubbed - Cicero gathers enough evidence to prosecute Verres in the extortion court. However, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus - Verres' defence lawyer and Cicero's rival - uses procedural tricks to try and delay the trial until the new year. Once that happens, Hortensius, along with Verres' ally Quintus Metellus, will be consul, and Metellus' brother Marcus will be head of the extortion court, leaving the trial's outcome all but guaranteed. Cicero's wife, Terentia, advises him to make his opening speech shorter, and Cicero, taking this to its logical extreme, declares he will make no speech at all. Instead, he begins calling his witnesses straight away, leaving Verres and his allies blindsided as they sit through one damaging testimony after another. Verres' fate is sealed when he drunkenly implicates himself in the death of Publius Gavius, who Verres had crucified despite Gavius repeatedly proclaiming, "I am a Roman citizen!" Despite this triumph, it is revealed that Cicero had made a deal with Pompey to ensure he could proceed as he wished. In return, Pompey "advises" him to take whatever offer Hortensius makes, setting the tone for their relationship going forward.

Part Two – Praetorian 68–64 BC

Two years later, Cicero receives word that Rome has been attacked by pirates, along with a summons to an emergency war council at Pompey's estate. Pompey, supported by Julius Caesar, outlines a plan to divide the Mediterranean into fifteen zones, each with its own legate, responsible for clearing his area of pirates and ensuring they don't return. In a complete departure from the norm, all fifteen legates are to report directly to one supreme commander - Pompey the Great. Through Cicero's clever politicking, Pompey receives the command unopposed, and, once the pirates are dealt with, is given command of the ongoing war against Mithridates VI of Pontus, displacing the aristocratic Lucius Licinius Lucullus and earning the ire of the patricians. Cicero, as Pompey's proxy, ends up on the receiving end of their anger.