Writers of historical fiction must read history. I read of the Roman generals, the Scipios, father and son, in Poul Anderson's "Delenda Est." While "studying"/suffering Latin at school, I found that I was translating a sentence about the younger Scipio saving his father's life at the battle of Ticinus. I reflected that, unknown to the historians, Time Patrolman Manse Everard was nearby at Ticinus.
Neil Gaiman's "August," about the Emperor Augustus, is presented as extracts from the memoirs of the dwarf, Lycius. Gaiman's source was Robert Graves' translation of Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars which confirms the historicity of Lycius as depicted in "August," although we must assume that the dwarf's memoirs relating the real reason for the decline of Rome have not survived...
Authors of fiction write in the cracks of history.
2 comments:
The accidents of survival dictate our knowledge of Roman history -- for example, we have only incomplete sets of Tacitus. Failing archaeology, of course.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I think I've read my share of historical novels, including those written by Anderson. Another novel, pub. around 1926, which I thought very well done, was William Stearns Davis' THE BEAUTY OF THE PURPLE, centered around Emperor Leo III and his defeat of the Muslim siege of Constantinople in 717-18.
Another writer I've sometimes mentioned here, Taylor Caldwell, also wrote historical novels I used to enjoy, before becoming more and more dissatisfied with them. The last straw was her book DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN, about St. Luke the Evangelist. She took far too many liberties with what I believed were historical facts and/or plausibilities. I simply could not believe her depiction of St. Luke as tall, blond, blue eyed, and a man with influential connections/relatives. Luke was far more likely only of average height, olive complexioned, black haired, with brown eyes, a typical Levantine Greek from Syria.
Mr. Stirling: Not just Tacitus! We only have the second half of the history written by Ammianus Marcellinus, in the fourth century. What struck was how hard he tried to be fair about men he disliked, such as Constantius II, and was critical of others he liked, like Julian the Apostate.
Ad astra! Sean
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