(Dates after chapter numbers have ceased because the text has returned to its narrative "present" of 70 AD.)
Everardus the Goth is an outsider who can carry the word between German chiefs and the Roman general, Petillius Cerialis. Flash Gordon is an outsider who unites the Mongans against Ming's "divide and rule." (Not an exact parallel but it came into my head as I reread.)
Referring to his father-in-law, Emperor Vespasian, Cerialis says:
"'...he and I are plain soldiers who've pulled heavy duty.'" (p. 604)
Vespasian sounds like the Terran Emperor, Hans Molitor.
When Cerialis says that Veleda could become "'...another Boadicea...'" (p. 609), Everard thinks:
"A sore point with you, huh?" (p. 609)
Why Boadicea is a sore point with Cerialis is explained in his Wikipedia article. See the above link.
This chapter opens with oppressive weather: hissing sleet; land half drowned by rain; dank chill; north wind from swamps, sea and North Pole. So we are appreciative when:
"Everard sipped of his wine. The sweetness glowed down his throat, invoking summers and southlands against the weather that ramped outside." (ibid.)
We feel the cold and taste the wine.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That metal honoring Cerialis interested me--with me wondering if it was accurate to show him wearing a laurel crown. By AD 70 such a symbol might have become so closely associated with the Emperors that only they could wear it.
Ad astra! Sean
sean: no, the "ornamenta triumphalia" continued to be awarded to successful generals -- purple toga and all. It was just the ceremony of a triumph through the streets of Rome that was limited to Emperors and their near kin.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I should have remembered that, because that was exactly what you described as happening in THE WINDS OF FATE. You did have the Roman general who was awarded the ornamenta triumphalia in that book reminding himself not to wear the laurel crown/purple toga too long, for obvious reasons.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: I suspect the parade through the streets of Rome was limited to emperors and their kin because it entered into the public consciousness as nothing else in a society without newspapers or other mass media could.
Conversely, the -ornaments- of a triumph were important only to high-status people.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That makes sense, no newspapers, magazines, cameras, TVs, etc., to almost instantaneously report on Triumphs. Hence the big gaudy parade.
All the same, it still makes sense that certain symbols/objects became very strongly associated as properly belonging to the Emperors. Humans are like that.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Yes. Purple was already associated with royalty in the Hellenistic East before the Romans took over there.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Exactly! And we saw that last year at the coronation of Charles III in the UK when he was solemnly invested with the regalia/symbols of his office: crown, scepter, orb, etc. And the Houses of Parliament and the US Congress have elaborate maces symbolizing their authority.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment