Robert Harris's new historical novel "Imperium" has just been released in the UK. It is a fictionalised biography of Cicero (Orator and Statesman in Rome who lived from 106 to 43 BC), told through the first-person narrator of his secretary Tiro.
I read his earlier historical novel "Pompeii" about the new aquarius (engineer) of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that supplies water to Pompeii and eight other towns along the Bay of Neapolis two days before the eruption. It seemed to me a believable scenario and made me want to find out more about both aquaduct construction and the eruption.
I was wondering if these novels inspired other people to find out more about the history and archaeology of the time. Have you read any of these historical novels and did they inspire you or were they just another interesting book?

This is an interesting essay on why histoical novels, particularly Roman, are so popular: 'Return of the Romans' essay

I particularly liked the bit about the Battle of Marathon being more important to the English than the Battle of Hastings.

Oh, I for one have absolutely been inspired by historical fiction, Roman, medieval, Jacobean, what-have-you. One of my favorites is "The Dream of Scipio" by Iain Pears. It follows the lives of people around Marseilles in three eras - mid-to-late 5th Century as the Roman world crumbles; 14th C as the plague grips; and the 1930s-40s as Nazis move in.

It's not an easy read, sometimes more scholarly & less like a novel. And his conclusions are quite disturbing. But it sticks with you; his writing is vivid & visceral enough to make it very real. You want to turn down the alleys he hasn't explored & talk to the people he mentions only in passing. I really enjoyed Pears's take on how different kinds of people would react to the crumbling of Roman society, and what that society actually meant at its core. It strikes a chord with my interest in the "end of the story" at Vindolanda.

And that's a great article you linked to, Rosie!

- Harry

My dirty little secret: I enjoyed the first few books of McCullough's 'Rome' series. Okay, it was 15 years back when 'The First Man in Rome' was published, but I found it interesting because McCullough tried to actually understand the clan-based mindset of the Republican aristocracy. It was such a relief from the various novels which variously portrayed Romans as 20th century fellows who ran about in bedsheets or loricae, and certainly far more accurate than Kirk Douglas philosophizing sentiments which wouldn't be current for centuries to come (though I did like the climactic battle in Spartacus--the only one to attempt to portray the 'checkerboard' formation, though even that wasn't quite accurate. Still, it gave one a decent feel for what the barbs must've felt when a Roman army rolled down the hill toward them: 'Oh, s**t!').

McCullough's later efforts devolved into Caesar-worship; to read them, you'd think poor old Julius was pushed willy-nilly by a Senate most evil into becoming dictator, the poor fellow. Her adulatory prose annoyed me after a time.

Other works: 'The Last Legion' (Manfredi), all about how Romulus Augustus (the last Western Emperor) is rescued by the survivors of the one and only 'old-style' Roman legion (recently perfidiously destroyed). Leaving aside the fact that such a legion in 475-6 would be much like witnessing a Union Civil War regiment fighting in Iraq just now, the novel was so terribly awful--wretched style, historical inaccuracy, and terrible character development--that I actually enjoyed it. Read the whole thing on a BA flight to the States, and binned it at O'Hare Airport. Miss it if you can, and if you watch the film due out next year I shall personally cite you for extreme courage and will buy you a drink of your choice.

The 'Alexander' series by Mary Renault: excellent stuff. Fire from Heaven' takes Alex to circa 336 BCE; 'The Persian Boy' tells of his campaigns from the perspective of Bagoas, a captured eunuch and historical figure. 'Funeral Games' accounts for the post-Alexandrine period down to 286 in the third person, and is the most depressing of the three. The first two do a fine job of illustrating Alexander's character and personality and just how he managed to lead a group of semi-civilized hillmen to put the serious whack on everyone from Thebes to Poros. Great stuff!

In the near-post Roman period, Mary Stewart's 'Merlin' series extrapolates from what little is known of the period 450-500 in Britain. Since I'm an inveterate fan of the period 200-600 (a time of enormous change, often quite fruitful) this did it for me. It's told by Merlinus Ambrosius, who happens to be the son of...well, I won't say. But a very interesting portrait of the remnant of the Britannia Diocesian leadership doing what they can to stop those evil Angli, Saxones, Jutes, and assorted other no-goodniks (ancestors of Andrew and Justin--hmmm.....) from taking over the island altogether. Richly detailed, and quite moving in many respects.

'In a Dark Wood Wandering' recounts the travails of the French nobility post-Agincourt--again, a fascinating historical period (ain't they all)?

And last, the entire Pat O'Brien series, which I read, re-read, and read some more long before Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany happened on the scene. Amazing grasp of matters nautical, and as an inveterate sailor I simply loved it. Excellent character development, too.

Your so right about that book mate it has to be one of the worst if not THE worst book i have ever picked up!...

But i am a little sad one off my all time fav books is "Eagle in the snow" by Wallace Breem..First picked it up a few years ago and do so every six months or so...

So you can see why i'm a little sad :D ...

Hi,
I like the Boudicca trilogy by Manda Scott. Not only are they a good read, but I think they do at good job at showing how people in past times must have been not just like us but living a long time ago, but the fact that they lived in such different conditions would have meant that they thought differently from us and conceptualised the world very differently too. And of course it's always good to have women as the main characters for a change...
Marilyn

Has anyone read the Stephen Saylor Novels about Gordianus the Finder set in the first centruy BC. I though they were brilliant.

Hi Sandy, digging partner-extraordinaire!

Don't know Stephen Saylor. But we're finally getting that Terry Jones "Barbarians" series here on TV. After the priming I got from the book you let me borrow, I'm psyched to see it. Nothing like a little well-researched revisionism to ruffle some feathers.

(Though I still can't see him without thinking of Monty Python)

-- Harry

when i was a bit younger, Stephen Pressfields' novels Gates of Fire and Tides of War (dealing with the battle of Thermopylae and the Peloponnesian War respectively) definitely made me interested in learning as much as i could about the conflicts that he described, as well as the societies that spawned them.

If you haven't read them can I highly recommend the Simon Scarrow books - the Eagles series.



or from my Youth...Rosemary Sutcliffe's Eagle of the Ninth



Chris

A personal favorite is the Falco novels by Lindsay Davis. The main character (much like the Saylor series) is a detective, with all the cliches of that genre, except that it's set in Vespasian's Rome and Falco is a relentless cynic. I just love his narrative voice. Vespasian is great as well.

One I read recently was Hadrian's Wall by William Dietrich--the first scene is set at Vindolanda, actually, although most of the novel takes place elsewhere on the wall. It's sort of a historical romance novel, but the writing's decent.