Roma : The novel of ancient Rome
Roma : a novel of ancient Rome by Steven Saylor
Through the story of two families, this novel retells the story of Rome from its beginning to the beginning of the empire. In each chapter, the reader is introduced to a different time and different characters. On this point, the novel feels a little like reading a short stories book; you barely have the time to know the characters that already, you’re leaving them for new ones. Rather than telling their story in the context of Rome, the author uses them to tell the story of Rome.
The novel insists a lot on the religion and politics of ancient Rome, and although it could be a good introduction to those topics for those who have never studied them, it can be, at times, a little “heavy” on the facts. There again, Saylor uses the characters to tell Rome’s story in discussions that sometimes seem less than natural. I’m personally really interested in the mythology and religion, and I really enjoyed to read about the different gods and their “arrival” in Rome’s society.
Mostly, the facts seem right although I would certainly not recommend this as a history book! It is still, of course, historical fiction. But it certainly makes for an interesting read.
I’ve been curious about this book, so I found your review very helpful. I’m always worried that historical fiction will de-emphasize the fiction aspect and sacrifice story in order to get the history parts in, and it seems this might be slightly the case here. Still, I think this might be something I’ll eventually check out! Thanks for the review!
I think you said it even better than I did; it might feel as if the book does sacrifice a little of the fiction to make more place for the facts. I’m glad my review was helpful to you in some way! 🙂