Vann Turner

6th century Rome. Interesting and original continuation of the story of the Roman Titus Tribonius, who, after his exile from his hometown, Verona, has settled in Rome. He has been forced to leave because of mostly trumped-up charges. He is an aristocrat but lives among plebs and becomes friends with them. They would do anything for him. He is gifted with the common touch. He is a visionary and wants to raise the status of the common people and to break the stranglehold the very often corrupt and venal Church has on their lives. Although he has met a woman, Adria, soon after his arrival in Rome, with whom he becomes soulmate, he is still faithful to his wife; she still lives back in Verona and runs his estate. Raised to the office of Aedile, he is finally raised to Consul with Plenary Powers by the pope and seeks to avoid war with the Lombard king, Agilulf, who plans to invade; Rome is nearly surrounded by the Lombard Empire but is independent. Titus dreams of the two nationalities, Lombard and Roman, living in peace and equality; he conceives of a codified law system--the same law for both. He desires to take revenge on the Lombard, the black-hearted Ratolf [that was an inspired name; this man was certainly a Rat!], who has violated his wife. The ending of the novel shows Titus and Adria leaving Rome together, optimistic for the future.

It took me a bit to get used to the author's style and to become involved in the story. I felt the writing in the last few chapters was better than that earlier. I felt the Church was presented as an evil force: the churchmen, the weak pope and the Savonarola-like Archdeacon. The Celtic monk, Aoidán was the only admirable ecclesiastic. I did not like Boastful because of what I felt was his impudence, but perhaps Titus's trust and giving him responsibility into the novel made him mature some. I felt the author used several words wrong. Where he used Larvae for spirits of the dead I felt it should have been Lemures; also instead of aquifer--aqueduct. Also, the monks swung censers, not incensers. [Later the author did explain to me his reasons for using these particular terms, and I respect his thinking.] I didn't like the use of modernisms, such as the oft-repeated okay. I did like how he worked in the Cafavy poem, "Waiting for the Barbarians", and how he harked back to the title through Titus's discouragement; should he abandon Rome? I chuckled at all the talk about food and recipes and cooking tips; I felt the author himself must be quite the amateur chef!

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.… (más)

* Addendum: Last paragraph is August 2014 review revision.
I consider this a dystopian historical fiction novel. It takes place a century after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. The setting, Verona, is chaotic and in tatters under the draconian Lombard yoke. Titus Tribonius is Gastaldus [Magistrate in Charge of Roman Matters] for the ruler, King Autari of the Duchy of Verona, capital city of Ticinum. Although appointed to an prestigious office but empty of actual power, Titus fervently wants to restore Roman pride and dignity in any way he can. As he states in one place: he wishes to shake off Roman subjugation to the Lombards. I liked the story and learned much of the time period. There hasn't been much fiction concerning the hiatus between the end of Antiquity and the onset of the Dark Ages. The notable exception is Arthurian literature.

Rome has fallen and society is under Lombard rule; Lombards are an amalgamation of an Italian tribe mixed with various Germanic elements; the Germanic is emphasized here. The times are dark and gloomy. The novel alternates between the civilian Romans and the ruling Lombards along with their military officers and soldiers. Titus has an estate outside Verona, the self-contained Spes Patriae [Hope of the Homeland], which struggles to become a Utopia, a microcosm of what Titus wants the Roman people to create: a self-sufficient society, retaining Roman skills, education, arts, industry. Titus hopes this concept will spread and revitalize the Romans. The novel recounts his and the Roman people's accomplishments. Their overlords oppose and obstruct them at every turn. At one point, Titus is pleasantly surprised at how a group of Romans not on his estate work together to finish a task: caring for an injured man.

I liked the description of the horrific storm and flood which devastated the area, and subsequent recovery efforts. Although admirable, Titus came across as pedantic and condescending but naïve and impulsive in some respects although earnest and wanting always to do his best for the Roman people; I couldn't get close to him. A similar fictional character in the Roman period I can think of is Marcus Julianus in The Light Bearer, although Marcus is more sympathetic. Marcus and Titus are both principled philosophical pagans. Marcus is the idealistic silver-tongued statesman/advisor to emperors. Titus has a glorious vision of the possible future; his friend Pertinax is good at day-to-day practical matters. *I wish something had been said about Pertinax' background other than that he is Berber and has lost an eye. I would have liked to know where and under what circumstances he and Titus had first met and then become friends. I hope the author will clarify in Volume 2. The Lombards each had certain defining traits: the villainous, manipulative, and evil Queen Theodolinda and sinister Ratold, Master of Horse; the idealistic King Ataulf; the well-meaning but weak, indecisive and gullible Duke Droctolf. Of the Lombards, Droctolf induced the most sympathy in me.

I don't know if what I read as humor was intentional or not. *I deplored the use of so many modernisms in language, e.g., 'okay', 'wow'. 'iew'. The narrative could have been tightened up; I felt there was too much repetition. Many of the parenthetical expressions could have been left out. I felt Titus' treatment and mass manumission of slaves were unrealistic but they were an honest expression of his principles. I liked how the poetry quotations [Ovid, "Battle of Regillus" , and Catullus] were fit neatly into the story. I commend the author for his own translation of the Catullus. I am sure the research was very well done; *I regret the lack of a bibliography for any reader who wishes to dig deeper. I did appreciate the 'Author's Notes'.

The unusual setting, interesting story and the explanations of history make this worth reading. The title really encapsulated the theme of the novel.

* August 2014 : This is one of those times I feel the rating system is too restrictive. I raised my rating to a 3.5. I reread the 2nd edition of this novel very carefully, compared it with the first, and was pleasantly surprised at some of the alterations, which I felt improved the book. The inclusion of a bibliography was a most happy addition. Some of the practices and attitudes of the Lombards seemed a bit outlandish so I'm glad to know the author didn't make them up. I'm glad he gave some backstory about Titus's friend, Pertinax, but---how did they meet in the first place and become friends? I appreciate excising or changing some of the modernisms. I also appreciated the extra descriptive material added. I do wish the author would cut down on his parenthetical expressions, for example, 'Decius, new from Corsica', 'Celer, of mixed Romano-German stock', 'Andros of the cleft chin'. For my part, mentioning once is enough; I don't need to be told many times. There are several other examples of repetitions of the same phrase. Maybe this is a small thing: but this has annoyed me in every other Roman novels I've read: for addressing a slave's master [Dominus], this is the only novel I've read using the correct form: Domine . I commend the author on this small detail!… (más)