|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Although it deals with murder galore, Steven Saylor's ROMA is far more historical fiction than mystery novel. Saylor has been much acclaimed as the author of historical novels and short stories set in ancient Rome, having written at least ten Gordianus the Finder books. Saylor knows his material. As I noted in reviewing NEMESIS, he "combines historical knowledge and skilled plotting with outstanding creative writing and vivacious set painting." In an author's note in ROMA, Saylor especially acknowledges his indebtedness to TJ Cornell's THE BEGINNING OF ROME, a seminal work that I've also read and enjoyed, and he quotes from Cornell, "all history contains an element of fiction." In ROMA Saylor puts fictional flesh on his historical renderings just as he uses history as a backdrop for his mystery novels. Here he transcends himself. The book could be compared in general as a breakthrough type for the author along the lines of art mystery novelist Iain Pears's AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST. ROMA has as its field the millennium from pre-historic 1000 to 1 BC, with notable hiatuses. Saylor traces the descendants of two families, selecting self-contained incidents from key periods to illustrate the progress of Roma from the days of primitive commerce down to Julius Caesar's assassination and Augustus Caesar's transformation of Roma from a republic to an empire. Where there is sufficient documentation, the author bases chapters on actual history, and he invents an interesting background to precede known history. As a result we learn plausible beginnings for stories such as those presented by Shakespeare in THE RAPE OF LUCRECE and CORIOLANUS. If your knowledge of ancient Roma is spotty, reading this book is an opportunity to acquire an easy overview of the kind of background which may be so useful for better appreciation of other books, certainly of historical mysteries set in one of the most interesting cities in the world. The earliest myths and the origin of the many superstitions held by the Romans, the Vestal Virgins, the Gracchus brothers, the overthrow of the kings by an early Brutus, the extraordinarily cruel punishments that tradition demanded, the continual expansion of Roma, the threats that almost extinguished the 'Eternal City,' the complex relationship between patricians and plebeians, are all covered here. The book contains a family tree that's useful to keep track of the main families. There are also maps preceding each chapter showing how the city changed over time. Notes at the end show some sources for the novel and Saylor also tells how he came about to write this long and most informative work. He points out that: "All the issues Americans deal with today, the Romans dealt with first." And he mentions: "This novel has been the largest and most complicated project I've ever undertaken." That he did successfully accomplish what he hoped for is to the benefit of all readers.
Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, March 2008
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
