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Los456 · 03-26-2003, 05:52 PM

I too would like to say I found the book quite enjoyable (blemishes and all) and would recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in the Roman period. It would make a good movie too. Keep the good writing coming... 
 
Los

05-05-2003, 03:48 AM

Avete, Omnes 
 
I read Peter W. Mitsopoulos's "Centurion" and on the whole, found it enjoyable. It is evident that the author did his homework on the Roman Army and Rome in general, but there are two glaring errors. First, he had the sequence of events wrong by having Varus arrive with the 17th and 18th legions right before the Clades Variana and two, the names he chose for his characters are just, well, they just aren't right. 
 
Varus had been in Germania for two or so years before the battle and was in the process of "building towns" and "civilizing" the local tribespeople with the three legions already there, maintaining order when the battle took place in September. Why did the author have Varus arrive with the two legions right before the battle, I don't know. 
 
As for the names of his characters, I agree it is very hard to find good names for the characters in a historical novel, and the Romans certainly don't make it easy with so few first names for men and the confusing mix of clan names and nicknames. There used to be a good list of names (Kate Monk's Onomastikon) on the internet, but it has gone. Asking a classicist would have helped, but apparently the author did not. I found the names most confusing and unconvincing. 
 
Aside from these two major faults, I found the book fun to read (I finished it in a single day.) and am looking for more. I hope, this time, Peter, you have the ms looked at by a classicist to help you with names and historical facts. 
 
AsaWoman

05-06-2003, 12:21 AM

To AsaWoman- Thank you very much for reading my novel and for finding it enjoyable on the whole. I realize that it's not 100 percent historically accurate. 
 
I'm aware Varus had already been in Germania for awhile. Also he was headed toward the Rhine when attacked, not away from it. He and his army were returning to their winter quarters along the Rhine. I reversed this, and had them marching away from the river when ambushed. These changes better suited my story-telling purposes. They made things more dramatic (I hope) and introduced the needed element of conflict. I stretched a fact or two in some other places also. 
 
I tried to write for a broad audience, most of whom won't be as well-informed about Rome as you and the others who post here. I hope for that reason, you'll forgive my alterations. 
 
Thanks again. -Peter 
 
Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=elngreekstreak@romanarmytalk>ELNgreekstreak</A> at: 5/6/03 3:04:30 am

09-16-2004, 03:34 PM

One question about Centurion - why is it so expensive in UK Amazon? 14 pounds is definitely a lot for a paperback (maybe not so much if it is a trade paperback, compared to a mass-market paperback - they are always more expensive). As it is, the book shall remain unread - my limit for online book purchases is 10 pounds unless I really know that the book is good, otherwise I'll have to see the book in a bookstore first (been burned a couple of times...). Unfortunately Centurion is unlikely to come to bookshops in Finland...

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