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Title: Very good, but not an actual biography
Review: As an individual, Aurelian has no historicity, as the sources for his reign are so few and padded with so much ideological fiction that the plain facts of his life cannot easily be discerned. What this book sets itself to do is to ascertain the political, economic and religious background around a life that will remain tantalizing and elusive, and perhaps a matter for a good historical novel. Pity it's highly imporobable that Gore Vidal, for instance, could tackle such a commision.
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