06-23-2008, 07:26 PM
For what it's worth, Lindsey Davis says on her own website how unhappy she was with the treatment of that movie. She insists on more control over characters and historical accuracy in any future dramatic treatments, which is why there probably won't be any more.
I've read the whole Gordianus series by Saylor (except "The Triumph of Caesar," just released this month), as well as Roma, and I agree with Medusa: they run a very close second to John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series. It's true that Gordianus sometimes thinks a little too much like a modern American, and it's also true that he winds up improbably close to historical events over and over, but I suspend disbelief and just enjoy the "being there" at those events. I've met Saylor and spoken with him at length, and he takes his history very seriously. I personally think the history of the Roman world is simply too big a topic for any one person to "master" the whole thing, and most writers will make the occasional forgivable slip.
By the way, I also recently read "Medicus" by Ruth Downie, about a Roman physician attached to the army in Britannia, and it's a wonderful book. I'm looking forward to reading her next, "Terra Incognita." Any comments?
Wayne Anderson/ Wander
I've read the whole Gordianus series by Saylor (except "The Triumph of Caesar," just released this month), as well as Roma, and I agree with Medusa: they run a very close second to John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series. It's true that Gordianus sometimes thinks a little too much like a modern American, and it's also true that he winds up improbably close to historical events over and over, but I suspend disbelief and just enjoy the "being there" at those events. I've met Saylor and spoken with him at length, and he takes his history very seriously. I personally think the history of the Roman world is simply too big a topic for any one person to "master" the whole thing, and most writers will make the occasional forgivable slip.
By the way, I also recently read "Medicus" by Ruth Downie, about a Roman physician attached to the army in Britannia, and it's a wonderful book. I'm looking forward to reading her next, "Terra Incognita." Any comments?
Wayne Anderson/ Wander
Wayne Anderson/ Wander
