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Best Roman fiction authors - richsc - 03-04-2001

I just finished John Maddox Robert's long out of print SPQR2 (took me a year to find it), and was amazed at the detail of late republican Rome. The Circus Maximus was originally a valley dedicated to a harvest goddess, the Valley of Murcia (sp), if he's correct.<br>
<br>
I'm a great fan of toga detectives, of which there are a suprisingly large number<br>
(see: www.best.com/%7Eheli/roman/romys.shtml ). My favorites are JM Roberts, Steven Saylor and Lindsey Davis. I've started but not finished books by Marilyn Todd and David Wissart.<br>
<br>
Some of these seem to have done a lot of homework, like Roberts and Saylor, others a bit less. If you've read these, how accurate to you think they are?<br>
<br>
And, since I"m always looking, what are your favorite fiction authors?<br>
<p>Richard<br>
[email protected] </p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=richsc>RichSC</A> at: 3/4/01 8:17:36 pm<br></i>


Re: Best Roman fiction authors - Anonymous - 03-05-2001

I am ashamed to admit I have never heard of JM Roberts. As on the other thread, I have read McCullough's series. I never really got into "toga detectives", but I have read some of the sci-fi novels--David Drake's "Belisarius" series is a nice way to utterly waste a Saturday afternoon. I also went through a little series by Kirk Mitchell eons ago that was: what if Rome never fell (based on Jesus not dying I think is the main change).<br>
<br>
If I could ask, what exactly is SPQR2 about? I'm assuming there's an SPQR1 also? <p></p><i></i>


crassus survivors - Goffredo - 03-05-2001

I read that the Parthians (and later Sassanians) would relocated war prisoners, whole units(!), to distant parts of their empire to fight other enemies ("either fight for us or rot in a prison"). [In particular roman legionaries were too precious to sick in a prison and indeed it seems that the roman prisoners were of prime importance in building up the the ability of the Sassanians in seige warfare.]<br>
<br>
I have a confused memory of reading of a "legend" that a whole roman unit, survivors of Crassus and relocated on a distant Parthian eastern front, decided to try their luck and make a run for it. Of course they couldn't go home (the wrong way). They could only go more east. As the "legend" goes they became select troops of some war lord and eventually made it to the territories of China. Has anyone heard about this?<br>
I think it would make a great novel or film. Just think of a bunch of rough Italic veterans, with no more illusions of getting home, walking (marching) so far against strange peoples. <p></p><i></i>


Re: crassus survivors - Catiline - 03-05-2001

I seem to remember there's reasonable evience to suggest that the Parthians did station some Roman legionaries on their Eastern frontier. Unfortunately I can't quite remember where i read it. The most likely place I think the article might be in is PBSR 1984, but it could be in PBSR 1955 or JRS 47, 1957. I'm gonig to the library this afternoon I'll see if i can dig it out. It might not be in any of those, but i seem to remeber looking at the article when I was supposed to be writing a select bibliography on Roman roas in Italy, and those are the journals on the thing I handed in. <p>It's not a bug, it's a feature</p><i></i>


Re: Best Roman fiction authors - JRSCline - 03-05-2001

I haven't read anything other than McCullough regarding ancient Roman fiction -- tried to pick up Turtledove's "Misplaced Legion" series but was almost immediately turned off by glaring inaccuracies. Suppose that experience soured me somewhat to the genre, unfairly so.<br>
<br>
You may have heard of the British authority on Roman women, Lindsay Allason-Jones. She normally writes academic nonfiction, of course, but her latest work (2000) entitled, <i> Roman Woman: Everyday Life in Hadrian's Britain</i> is actually a work of fiction about a year in the life of a former British tribeswoman named Senovara, who marries a veteran and lives in Eboracum with him and their children. It's quite deceptive -- from the title and binding one would never guess it to be a novel, but it is, and quite good too. Gives an insightful, readable, and refreshingly reliable glimpse into daily life in a Roman community.<br>
<br>
The ISBN is 1-85479-528-7.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>


Re: Best Roman fiction authors - Guest - 03-05-2001

Salve,<br>
<br>
Reading fiction with a historical setting is a favourite pastime, but as with movies I am always much distracted by details and their level of accuracy. The Rosemary Sutcliff novels were my childhood favourites and probably stimulated my interest in the Roman army as much as Connolly's <i> Het Romeinse leger</i>. Of the fiction with a Roman setting I think highly of <i> I, Claudius</i>. The sequel <i> Claudius the God</i> is in my view less, since Graves' Livia simply cannot be bested by another villaines like Messalina. His <i> Count Belisarius</i> did not achieve the same standard as the Claudius novels, but was a good read nevertheless. McCullough's <i> Grass crown</i> and <i> First man in Rome</i> I liked better than the following parts. Her caesar is not to my liking either. In that respect I like the portrayal of him as a monster by Massie better. The Leckie novels on Hannibal and Scipio Africanus contained many inaccurcies on military matters. Of the Roman detectives I like the Gordianus series by Saylor best. The Falco series by Lindsey Davies are also very enjoyable, certainly the most humurous, but they contain some inaccuracies (eg fully armed praetorians in Rome) and some I think deliberate anachronisms. the Maddox SPQR series are also good. I haven't yet read any of the Wishart books.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>


spqr series - richsc - 03-05-2001

John Maddox Roberts has authored five Roman detective books set in late Republican times. His hero, unlike Lindsey Davis' Falco, is a noble plebian family member, Decius. While you can currently buy the last three books in the series, the first two have been very hard to find at any price, though I see that they are going to be reprinted this fall. JMR is also publishing one of the series in German (! ..must be really popular there! ) and a sixth one in English later this year.<br>
<br>
Steven Saylor has stuck his hero in the same time period, but so far they haven't tripped over each other.<br>
Someone once mentioned that Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower should certainly have known each other, and probably served on the same ships, since they were such immense heros in Britain, but no on coordinated their authors. Too bad...leave it to Hollywood to do that. <p></p><i></i>


Roman britain novel - richsc - 03-05-2001

Thanks Jenny! that's a good recommendation. I'll look into it's availability here. <p></p><i></i>


Re:Chinese Romans?? - Anonymous - 03-05-2001

Wee OT, but...<br>
There's a book called _A Roman City in Ancient China_ by a Homer H. Dubs, published in '57 by the China Society Sinological Series. It's cited in a fn. on page 34 of Webster's _The Roman Imperial Army: 1st & 2nd Centuries AD_, 3rd ed.<br>
The fn. is on the capture of Crassus' 10,000 soldiers and says, "...a number of them may have eventually have been sold to the Chinese Emperor according to an ingenious theory of Homer H. Dubs...". I'd assume that Webster thinks there may be something to Mr. Dubs' theory, otherwise why cite him?<br>
<p></p><i></i>


Re: Re:Chinese Romans?? - Catiline - 03-05-2001

Yep, that sounds like the book, now i think about it it was probably a review in JRS. <p>It's not a bug, it's a feature</p><i></i>


Roman Fiction authors - richsc - 03-06-2001

Jenny, it took me a while to find it. The book is not available in the US apparently, but on Amazon.co.uk.<br>
I note that she co-authored "Excavations at Roman Corbridge: the Hoard" with Mike Bishop. She has one more title, "Coventina's Well". Do you have any idea what that is about? <p>Richard<br>
An enthusiast and scholar wannabe<b>
[email protected] </p><i></i>


Re: Best Roman fiction authors - JRSCline - 03-06-2001

That <i> Roman Woman</i> recommendation was specially for you and your wife, Rich, since you two are working so hard on recreating the Roman civilian tableau. Dr. Allason-Jones spends a lot of time describing daily women's tasks and the routines of the ancient feminine life -- so I thought it might interest you particularly since's it's so credibly based on academic research. Anyway, enjoy!<br>
<br>
Coventina's Well is the modern parlance for the small shrine which was discovered at Carrawburgh, one of the forts near Hadrian's Wall. Coventina was a Celtic water nymph associated with sacred springs and healing; references to her have been found mostly in Britain but also in France and NW Spain.<br>
<br>
If you're looking for new British titles, remember there is always Oxbow Books. I believe that's where I got my copy of <i> Roman Woman</i> but I buy so many books, I really can't recall! E EM<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
J. <p></p><i></i>


more authors - richsc - 03-06-2001

Thank you Jenny. I was just about to order that last night, then got looking at my wish list with two different maps of Roman Britain: do I order one, or both?<br>
<br>
I almost forgot a new author, Simon Scarrow, who's "Under the Eagle" first volume I just had returned to me yesterday. Enjoyable adventure. <p></p><i></i>


Re: more authors - Anonymous - 03-10-2001

How about Mika Waltari's The Roman!! <p></p><i></i>


Re: more authors - richsc - 03-14-2001

Miki Waltari..didn't he also write 'The Egyptian'? My favorite Victor Manure movie! In that one the Egyptians are first faced with iron swords, and they suffer the shock of instant obsolescence.<br>
<p>Richard<br>
An enthusiast and scholar wannabe<b>
[email protected] </p><i></i>