Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes

Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron, 1803-1873Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
1.1M words
Chapters
106

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalPolitical AllegoryPolitical CareerPower GameAntiheroHeroismPower OppressionHistorical Novel Style19th-Century BritainAncient Rome

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton LyttonAuthor: Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron, 1803-1873,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 15, 2006

Editor's review

Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes is a historical novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chronicling the rise and fall of the medieval Roman tribune Rienzi. Released by Project Gutenberg in English, it combines the historical figure with fictional narrative, offering grand scenes of political intrigue and popular movements as well as dramatic tension between personal ambition and ideals. Lytton's storytelling carries the expansive style of Victorian historical fiction, with rich characterization and vivid scenes; it will appeal to readers interested in medieval Roman history and historical novels. Readers may compare the plot with the actual historical background to see how the author balances fact and invention. This is not a light popular read; it requires patience to enter into its lengthy narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Before starting, learn the basic historical background of Rienzi to lower the threshold for entering the plot.
  2. Proceed chapter by chapter and take notes on character relationships to avoid confusion in the long narrative.
  3. Read the plot alongside historical facts, noting where the author invents or selects.
  4. If English reading is difficult, read chapter summaries first, then closely read key conflict passages.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106

FAQ

Is this book a work of history or a novel? It is a historical novel about the Roman tribune Rienzi, building a literary narrative on historical figures and events. Readers get a story experience while remaining aware that it contains the author's invention and artistic elaboration.
Can I read it without knowing medieval Roman history? Yes, but it is advisable to spend a little time first learning about Rienzi and the political background of Rome at the time, which makes the conflicts and character motivations easier to understand. With no prior knowledge, the opening may feel information-dense.
How difficult is the original English text? This is a nineteenth-century English novel with long sentences and extensive description, more difficult than modern popular fiction. It is best attempted by readers with some foundation in reading English novels, with a dictionary and chapter summaries as aids.
Is it suitable as historical study material? It can serve as an introductory reading on the subject of Rienzi, but it cannot replace formal historical works. For historical study, compare the novel with reliable sources and distinguish literary narrative from historical record.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron, 1803-1873 Author

Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton (1803–1873) was an English novelist, playwright and politician. The library holds 220 of his works, spanning a wide range of subjects: the historical novel The Last Days of Pompeii, set against the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79; Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes, on the Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo; and Eugene Aram, a narrative drawn from a criminal case. He also wrote society novels such as Pelham, the family portrait The Caxtons, and the historical study Athens: Its Rise and Fall; the short tale The Haunted and the Haunters, or The House and the Brain reflects his interest in the supernatural. His style is ornate and his plots elaborate, combining romantic colouring with social satire. Public information is limited, and systematic Chinese-language appraisal of his life and work remains scarce.