Book Review: I am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs, is most well known for his 2 famous literary inventions: Tarzan and John Carter. Tarzan, is doubtlessly one of the most widely known fictional characters of all time, alongside Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Conan the Cimmerian (the big 4). On the other hand, John Carter has been re-introduced to a new generation, through the Hollywood blockbuster film, John Carter in 2012.

About 2 months ago, I read the centenary collection of the first 6 Tarzan novels. It was my first experience with Edgar Rice Burrough's works. I have to say, I was not particularly impressed with the Tarzan stories. As a result, I thought Edgar Rice Burroughs was but a mediocre author.

One day when I was surfing the web, I came across a book called: "I am a Barbarian", written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Initially, I wasn't too sure if I should even pick up this book, firstly it is because, after reading Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs is not on my list of favorite authors. Secondly, from the title of the book, I thought this book would be a Edgar Rice Burroughs styled heroic fantasy, with card board like characters and repetitive stories akin to Tarzan stories. But after looking at the description of the book, it turned out that this is a historical fiction. Set in the time of the Roman Empire. To make it more interesting, the story is about the most notorious Roman emperor, Caligula.

As someone with an avid interest in history, I decided to pick up this book. Apparently, I am a Barbarian was only published 17 years after the death of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The copy I have, is an out of print version, a hard covered book published in 1967, with a dust jacket and a frontal piece illustrated by award winning artist, Jeff Jones.

The story is told in the style of a memoir, recounting the life of Caligula, the imperial family, and the life of the Roman society, through the eyes of one of Caligula's slaves, an individual called Britannicus. Britannicus was originally a Briton, whose father was a chief of a small tribe in England at around 20AD. Britannicus comes from a bloodline of kings, his grand father was of the King of Kent. After a failed military campaign, both Britannicus (age 11) and his parents were captured by the Romans. Britannicus was sold into slavery, subsequently came into the hand of the Roman general Germanicus, and his wife Agrippina. The couple had 3 sons and 3 daughters. One of the sons is Caligula (Little Boots), who would one day become the most notorious emperor in Roman history. Britannicus was chosen to be a slave for Caligula, to be a companion and a play mate for the 4 year old Caligula. From here, the story evolves over the span of 2 decades, until the time when Caligula was finally assassinated at 41AD.

After reading this book, I have to agree with some critics who proclaimed that, I am a Barbarian, is Edgar Rice Burroughs best work. The story, the character development, and the depth of this book is far better than any Tarzan stories. Edgar Rice Burroughs, managed to write a master piece, by breathing life into historical characters and events, while capturing the vividness of the corruption, degeneracy and the debauchery in the Roman society, and blending history with fast paced actions. The result is a page turning, yet reflective and fulfilling historical novel, and I cannot but feel thankful for the fact that the slavery and class system atypical in the Roman society, has long been abolished from our 21th century world, accredited to the fact that our moral systems and ethics are largely shaped by teachings of Christianity and Jesus Christ.