Tag Archives: The Roman Empire

Book Reviews, Mind

What We’re Reading – Historical Fiction

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Summer time is approaching and it’s time to find the right books to throw in the beach bag, download on the tablet, or remain perched by your favorite rocking chair. Winter is for the dense works that educate, inform, and develop the mind. Oftentimes accompanied by hearty meals and warm drinks. Summer reading demands the opposite. When not out enjoying warmer weather, a bit of well-deserved vacation time, or just decompression from a long year of coronavirus stress it pays to have a good book at hand.

This spring I’ve been indulging in some fiction. Not straying from my normal habit too far, I’ve picked up a few books that have augmented my recent travels around Great Britain. I now offer these works of Historical Fiction for your consideration:

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson

“A man would have to look far before finding more rewarding beggars than you,” said Orm, “for not one of you but has a tale to tell. If your story is good, Rainald, let us hear it.”

“Stories about sin are always good to hear,” said Ylva.

The protagonist, Orm is a great fictionalized hero of yore, with a named sword and a strong arm. He’s honorable, wise, and quick of wit. He earns the respect of his enemies and everlasting devotion of his friends. He’s also well-traveled. As a boy he’s swept up into the world of sea-faring vikings, raiders of the sea, and spends years (and many pages) on his adventures. In his fictionalized lifetime he’s a slave, bodyguard, warrior, chieftain, treasure hunter, husband, friend, and father. He’s truly a character a reader can seek inspiration and set aspiration to. 

The Long Ships is simple good ole, serialized storytelling. It’s not meant to be read straight through as Frans Bengtsson originally wrote the epic tale of Orm in two novels that have only recently been combined into a single book. Bengtsson’s own story is worth a little side-reading on. He’s a historian that poured all he knew about early medieval viking culture and lore into this story. He takes Orm across the known Western world throughout his adventures and makes the character react to Jews, Muslims, and Christian Europe. He processes the scale of the Byzantine Empire and the kingdoms of Africa, while he dabbles in the regional politics of the Norse people. Bengtsson takes the reader on a tour of history within the pages and it has a depth that modern viking tales seem to lack.

Vindolanda by Adrian Goldsworthy

“Now we are friends, until the kings says different. . . You are brave and know how to fight. Share a drink.” He offered his cup. Ferox took it, drank what he guessed to be half and handed it back.

“I like you, the German rumbled and clapped the centurion hard on the shoulder, the friendly blow feeling as if it would drive him a foot into the floor.

“I like you,” Ferox replied, a little surprised to find that he meant it.

It’s no secret that I’ve become enamored with the Ancient Roman Empire this past year. You can’t visit Hadrian’s Wall twice in a year without feeling a gravitational pull. On the second visit I made time to visit Vindolanda, the archeological site of a Roman fort that pre-dated the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in AD 122. While it’s proven a treasure trove for archeologists, it is little more than low walls in the outline of the fort’s buildings and walls. When I was browsing through the gift shop I came across Adrian Goldsworthy’s novel Vindolanda. All I needed to read was that he was a historian of Roman Britain and this was his fictionalization of much of what he knew. Into my library it went and I finished it before my trip to the north of Great Britain was finished.

The story revolves around Centurion Flavius Ferox, a Roman staff officer of infamous repute. He’s stationed in the north of Britannia to maintain relations between the tribes and the Roman garrisons. The novel is set in the early days of Emperor Trajan’s reign and there is much uncertainty in the air about Rome’s stability as an empire and presence in Britannia. As Roman officials and aristocrats arrive from far off Rome, Ferox must grapple with diplomatically educating them on the ways of the local tribes while also sniffing the air for challenges to Rome. Goldworthy’s narrative brings Vindolanda, and all of northern Britannia, alive with his descriptions of life at the fort, relations between the tribes, and where Rome is in its history.

I can say with complete honesty that there were some real page-turner episodes for me in this book. Both battles and feasts held me with rapt attention and there is enough human element to make me identify with Centurion Ferox. This novel brings to life the meager facts of what is known about Roman Britain, which incidentally owes a great debt to Vindolanda’s archaeological offerings.

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cronwell

“Don’t go to Cridianton,” he told me.

“My wife is there,” I said. “My child is there.”

“Alfred is at Exanceaster.” he said

“So?”

“So the man who takes news of the battle to Exanceaster gets credit for it.” he said

“Then you go.” I said.

The Last Kingdom made this list because 1) I read it, 2) it’s also a popular Netflix series, and 3) there are serious flaws with it. I also happened to be at Bamburgh Castle, in the far north of England, where the protagonist was born and spends the entire novel (and series) trying to get back to. I genuinely enjoyed the first 300-or so pages of this. The Danish colonization of England is an interesting period as the descendents of Red Orm settled on the eastern shores of the island and battled the Saxons and Britons. I’ve been to the cities of York and Lincoln that have shared history with each civilization and seen the evidence of that history in the names and architecture that remain. For 90% of this book, it holds up.

Ivar the Boneless, a real historical figure, makes appearances in The Last Kingdom. Most of what was known about him was lost to history, which makes him a perfect character to plug into a fictional story with creative license. Photo by Andrew Zapf, taken at Whitby Abbey in northeastern England - where the vikings came ashore.

***Mild Spoilers***   It all falls apart when the protagonist, Uhtred Ragnarson, stops following the societal rules for power, security, and advancement of his own era and starts adopting the decision making paradigm of the 21st Century. The quote above, when Uhtred decides to follow his wife to Cridianton, instead of claiming credit with King Alfred at Exanceaster, makes no sense for the early medieval societies he lives in. This diversion from reality pushes the accuracy levels of the subsequent novels, not to mention the whole television series, way down as Uhtred keeps failing to learn from his mistakes, refuses advice pertinent to the society, and spends years of his fictional life making illogical decisions. It’s too much and I won’t endorse it beyond page 324. 

However, I can’t recommend Bamburgh Castle (pictured in the banner above), it’s vast beach, and lovely village highly enough.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

History, Mind

Hadrian’s Wall: The Bottom of the Rabbit Hole

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“Sis felicior Augusto, melior Traiano” 

“be more fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan” – spoken at the inauguration of later-era Roman Emperors


“To a considerable extent, Hadrian’s Wall is a monument to human sweat.” – Alistair Moffat, The Wall

There aren’t many ways to get me to go down the rabbit hole. Up until now I could count on one hand the topics that could set me up for hours of conversation or months of reading: the 1996-97 Detroit Red Wings, the combat history of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 1453 Siege of Constantinople by Mehmet the Conqueror, and the Palio di Siena. After six months I can deny it no more. Add the Ancient Roman Empire to the list. 

It snuck up on me slowly. Reading The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff as a boy or a fragment of a Roman ruin in Vienna on a college trip. Then as I roamed further I consumed bigger and bigger portions of Roman history. The Celsus Library at Ephesus in Turkey, the temple of Volubilis in Morocco, and visiting the ruins of Jerash in Jordan were whole-day affairs.

Recently and unexpectedly I found myself living in Italy. I was practically stumbling over the Ancient Romans in between sips of espresso and magnificent pasta. And believe you me, I relished the proximity of it all. The Appian Way was a short walk from my rental, central Rome a simple train ride away. Capua, the starting point of the Spartacus-led Third Servile War appeared on the road signs I drove past daily.  

In for a penny, I was in for a pound. Even after I left Italy the Roman history books started piling up on my shelf. Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast started accompanying me on my morning commutes. And I put all six volumes of Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire at the top of my letter to Santa Claus. I wanted, and still want, to know more. To understand the connections between this ancient empire and our modern world. 

This interest is what drove me to the north of England. Far distant from the Forum and Palatine Hill in Rome were the edges of the empire. There, on the south side of the Scottish border, lies what remains of Emperor Hadrian’s wall demarking the frontier. It was there, on a brisk October morning, that I came to Housesteads Roman Fort, an auxiliary fort once home to Roman legionnaires at the very edge of the civilized world. 

Conquering new lands defined the Ancient Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. Emperor Trajan pushed Rome’s boundaries to the empire’s high water mark. Emperor Hadrian, Trajan’s successor foresaw financial and logistical reasons to put some clean edges on the empire. One, to keep the barbarians out. Two, to keep adventurous Roman generals penned in. As the new emperor toured his domains he set Roman garrisons to building projects along the Danube and in Germania. In AD 122 he ordered the construction of the wall in northern Britannia after another revolt in the province. Britannia simply wouldn’t be a profitable Roman province if they had to keep fighting there. And so the wall was built over six years and stretched nearly the full 91 miles at the narrowest coast-to-coast line in Northern England. The hard edge of the empire became crystal clear. 

When Hadrian gave the word to build Romans from Britain’s legions turned out from their forts to quarry stone, haul material, and erect the long structure. Examples of other Roman walls still standing elsewhere are about 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Known for their uniformity and rigidity in military matters, this wall was likely the same. It’s imposing height, augmented by cliffs and ditches, was whitewashed and must have gleamed against the grey British skies. The mile-castles, roving cavalry patrols, and permanent garrisons intimated the reach and power of the Emperor stretching over a thousand miles back to Italy. 

For nearly 1,900 years Hadrian’s Wall has stood. Maintained by the National Trust preservation society in England, it’s line is still impressive. In Housesteads Fort the walls and gates have shed much of their glorious height. Beyond it’s northern gate lies what was once Rome’s frontier. The wall divided lands of the Brigantes tribes and kept the ancient Caledonians – the barbarians of the North – at bay. Here was the last line where the legionnaires stood guard against them all. 

Today the enemy was time. Bryce, Soren, Randy, Sean, and I, fresh off our day on Helvellyn, were there to dash across a section of well before heading back to our day jobs in the south. Dash being the appropriate term as we had one chance to get from Housesteads Fort to the village of Greenhead to catch the last bus back to our parked car. The only backup plan was a ten mile walk back. 

We walked, we jogged and we ran. Occasionally we stopped for a picture or just to gawk at the landscapes. To the south the ground sloped gently down. To the north the terrain drops steeply. The Romans incorporated the cliffs of the Great Whin Sill into their construction to form an imposing and formidable barrier. Overhead a ceaseless wind barreled from the north shoving the clouds across a threatening sky. It would be months before I turned back the cover of Alistair Moffat’s The Wall and really dove into the history of Roman Britain, but even in those moments my imagination could hear the cloth snapping on the Roman standards, and the low grumbling of lonely Centurians on duty from over a thousand years past. 

We arrived in Greenhead with time to spare. At the bus stop we leaned against a less ancient stone wall waiting for Bus 122 (appropriately numbered) to take us away. In the preceding six hours we had climbed the ancient walls, crossed bovine and sheep pastures, and transported ourselves back to the time when the area was bustling with Legionnaires, Auxiliaries, and the human activity that followed the Romans to each corner of the known world. 

In the end, the only tension of the day involved a couple of beers. While waiting for the bus Bryce, Soren, and Sean disappeared into the Greenhead Hotel. Just before the appointed hour they emerged with giant smiles and five bottles of cold ale in their hands – held high in the victory stance. Time slowed as we sipped the amber ale. We weren’t just drinking a toast to our successful day. The five of us were welcoming a new appreciation for the ambition and achievement of the Romans, their mark on history, and their invasion of our imaginations.

Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.

Book Reviews, History, Mind

What We’re Reading This Month – April 2020

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The current situation has many limitations but equally it has presented us with certain opportunities, in this case to continue to read great works.  Limited, for the most part, to the confines of our own house; surrounded at all times by our loving but rambunctious children – we can escape into (and learn from) the worlds of great authors.  Below are some of the books I have read, and recommend, from the month of April 2020, when the spring weather arrived in its full glory.

The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works

“Gaul..is divided into three parts.”  With those immortal words, once memorized by most of the educated western world, Julius Caesar began his commentaries of the conquest of Gaul.  To read Caesar’s writings, which also include the Civil War he would later fight against Pompey leading to the final collapse of the Roman Republic, have long been an objective of mine.  However, only now, did I believe I had the time and freedom to take on the daunting task.  

While many versions of the book are available, some for free online, I cannot recommend highly enough the Landmark edition of these works.  The Landmark series, beginning with Thucydides, are incredible acts of devotion by Classical scholars.  They include numerous maps, footnotes, and additional essays that provide invaluable context to the ancient writings.

The lush detailed editions of the Landmark editions of the Classical texts.

In the case of Caesar, this is essential.  For not only was he one of the greatest military commanders in history, he was also a politician desperately sparring with his rivals and using the commentaries as a means to influence public opinion in Rome.

Which makes their (selective) honesty, in hindsight, even more interesting.  Caesar does not disguise the fact that his is a war of conquest, or that his opponents-whether they be Gauls (from modern day France) or Germans are fighting for their freedom from Imperial domination.  He allows his opponents to be heroes in his own writing, and his sparse, clean writing style holds eternal truths about war, leadership, diplomacy, politics and the human condition.

Interestingly, Caesar highlights the bravery of working class legionnaires and centurions.  Their exploits are known to history only through Caesar’s words.  The passage below captures his technique of dramatizing the actions of these men, without whom none of Caesar’s brilliant achievements would have been possible.  Caesar was much more sparing in his praise for the senior commanders and nobles in his army, who in the future might be political rivals.

“In that legion were two superbly brave men, centurions,…Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.  They had unending arguments about which of them should rank above the other, and every year they were involved in high stakes rivalries about their position.  Now while the fight was most intense.., Pullo said, “Why are you hanging back, Vorenus?  What opportunity are you waiting for to prove your bravery?  This day is going to decide our competition.”  Having said this, he…rushed  toward the enemy forces.. Vorenus…followed right behind, worried about what everyone would think of him.  Pullo threw his spear at pretty close range into the crowd of enemies, and it went straight through a man who was in front and had been running toward him.  Pullo’s shield was pierced by a javelin…and while he was struggling with this, the enemies surrounded him.  His rival Vorenus ran up to help him …and stood by him.  Vorenus faced the threat, fighting at close quarters with his sword.  He was surrounded in turn, but Pullo now came to his aid…  Fortune thus brought it about for the two in their fighting and competition that while each was the other’s rival, he also helped and saved him, and there was no way to judge between them as to who should be thought to rank above the other in bravery.”

It is from that short vignette, that the creators of the HBO show Rome decided to make Vorenus and Pullo the protagonists of their tale, rather than the more famous and powerful characters of that era.  Of course, while reading Caesar, I had to dust off my old DVD collection of the series and introduce it to my wife.  It had been my favorite show when I was younger, and learning my trade as an infantry officer.  One of my friends later told me that every man’s watchword should be WWTPD,  What Would Titus Pullo Do?  Long after we put the girls to bed, my wife and I watched the artistic rendering of the momentous acts of Marc Antony, Augustus, Pompey, Brutus, and Caesar himself that led to the end of the Republic.  Throughout it all, would be Pullo and Vorenus- representative of the many nameless individuals whose lives make the history whose spotlight is on the elites’ competition for power.

On the Ides of March, Caesar was famously assassinated by a conspiracy of senators, who feared that the tremendous dynamism of the man would ultimately lead to tyranny.  As such, while reading Caesar, I also studied the works of the ancient biographer Suetonius to gain another perspective.  Suetonius, who lived during the era of Hadrian, compiled all the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of the Emperors starting with Caesar.  According to him, the dictator Sulla hunted Caesar as a young man for daring to defy him.  When other nobles begged the dictator to spare his life, Sulla responded “Have your way…but be aware that the man you so desired to save, believing him to be attached to the aristocratic cause… will be its downfall.”

Caesar was clearly no ordinary man, and his skills far exceeded those of solely a strategist or ambitious politician.  It has been well worth the effort to read his commentaries, thousands of years later, especially when accompanied by critical notes that explain the intent and purpose behind those words

The King’s Gold: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste

Alatriste is drawn into a complicated plot to steal Gold from the New World for the King.

“If what I have I do not fear to lose, 

nor yet desire to have what I do not,

I’m safe from Fortune’s wheel whate’er I choose”

After wading through an intense ancient work, I was hoping for a light fictional adventure.  When I was younger, I enjoyed historical fiction and occasionally still like to delve into a swashbuckling tale.  When we visited my Pushing Horizons’ partner, Andy, and his family in England during Thanksgiving, we came across an old Edwardian phone booth turned into a community library.  Among the pile, one book caught my eye.  It was an English translation of one of Captain Alatriste’s adventures. 

England. Check the phone booth, you never know when it may be filled with free books.

The Alatriste series, written by a Spanish war journalist, now novelist, are loved in Spain and I have a few of the series on my bookshelf in their original language.  This translation, however, is excellent.  Of course, it had all the sword fights, plot twists, and romance one could hope for in an adventure. Beyond that, the author Arturo Perez-Reverte also artfully tells the story of Spain at the height of its power, awash with gold from the New world, but beset by a myriad of enemies, and increasingly hobbled by its own corruption.  This is no ordinary adventure.   

Sunset in Ronda, Andalusia, Southern Spain.

The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos

A young man walks through the Balkans in 1933.

“One is only sometimes warned, when these processes begin, of their crucial importance: that certain poems, paintings, kinds of music, books, or ideas are going to change everything, or that one is going to fail in love or become friends for life; the many lengthening strands, in fact, which, plaited together, compose a lifetime.  One should be able to detect the muffled bang of the starter’s gun.  This journey was punctuated with these inaudible reports: day springs veiled and epiphanies in plain clothes.”

A scrutinizing reader may notice that we at Pushinghorizons.com are devotees of the author Patrick Leigh Fermor.  His books, his ethos, and writings by his companions are scattered like clues throughout our articles.  During World War Two, while serving in occupied Crete, he led a successful operation to kidnap a German general.  However, it is his walking trip in 1933 from Holland to Constantinople that he took as an eighteen year old that provided an inexhaustible resource for his later life as a writer living in Greece.  The first two excellent books detailing his trip were published during his lifetime.

A few years ago a group of us spent New Years on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France.  Amidst the camaraderie, and many bottles of Champagne, Andy and I discussed Patrick Leigh Fermor.  I had just read his biography by Artemis Cooper, and was enamored by his life.  However, I am ashamed to admit it, I had yet to read his actual writings.  It was high time for me to rectify this omission, so I have taken the opportunity to read the third and last book in his trilogy detailing his youthful walk through Europe on the brink of armageddon.

This manuscript had not been finished at the time of his death, but has been rescued and published by Cooper.  It is filled with the experiences of a young man whose deep sense of cultural and historical knowledge and evident charm allowed him to penetrate and understand the diverse wonderful societies which he passed through. 

If you are not already intrigued by the Balkans as I am, that mysterious beautiful land troubled by violence and a crossroads of great power competition, you will be after reading Fermor.  Passages like that below easily transported me from our current situation to a much different place and time:

“..prompted by the moonlight, our group sneaked away, armed with a bottle of wine, to a boat in the Maritza, and rowed out on to the wide river singing and drinking in turn from the same glass and moored under a clump of trees.  At last, and with great delight,  I heard, and finally learnt the words, of that strange wavering song the women had sung in the bus from Radomir.  I got the students to perform it by humming what I could remember of the tune: 

Zashto mi se sirdish, liube?” 

 (‘Why are you angry with me, my love?  Why do you shun me?…)

 ..Sirdish ne dohojdash?  Dali konya namash, liube Ili drum ne znayesh?  

It ends in mid-air in an oddly unfinished fashion.  They sang beautifully the slow and complex tune, with many modulations: an entrancing and melancholy sound over this moonlit river.  I wonder what has become of them all?”  

If one could all live such a life.

– RM
Roland Minez is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.

Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author. As an REI Associate, Pushing Horizons earns from qualifying purchases.