Tagged: julius caesar
The Portrayal of Cleopatra in Historical Fiction
Cleopatra has been a favourite subject of many artists.
Cleopatra is a cultural phenomenon; you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has not at least heard her name. There are movies, plays, songs and (of course) books about her life, but I’m only focusing on one of these mediums: books. How is Cleopatra portrayed in historical fiction and just how accurate are these portrayals?
First, we have to take a look at the basics of her life. Cleopatra VII Philopator (Father-Lover) was the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt in most people’s eyes. She was, however, part of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and the last Egyptian pharaohs had been long dead by her time. It is said she was fluent in nine languages, including Egyptian, which endeared her to the native Egyptian population the typically Greek-speaking Ptolemies ruled over.
Cleopatra, as was Egyptian tradition, ruled jointly with her father and later her two brothers in the typical brother-sister marriages. Why? According to Egyptian tradition, it was the royal women that held the power to legitimize the males. In addition to that, nearly all of the gods were married to their siblings. Isis and Osiris, Set and Nepthys, Nut and Geb. And were the pharaohs not the sons of gods? Well, that was the theory anyway. Continue reading
3 Things to Brighten Your Wednesday
#1. First off, thanks so much to everyone who suggested books for my little sister. You have no idea how helpful you’ve been! Thank you for filling both my birthday and Christmas shopping lists with books because in this household, books are a staple of both occasions.
#2. I’m posting over at We Heart Reading again. This time, it’s a review of Caesar by Adrian Goldsworthy. It’s about, you guessed it, Julius Caesar. It’s my first time reviewing non-fiction, so go on over and check it out! Especially if you like history.
#3. A little while ago when I wrote my post on things authors should know about bad reviews, I had John Scalzi’s attitude toward them in mind. For the release of his new book, Redshirts, he has posted some samples from one-star reviews he received without flipping out at the reviewers. This is how bad reviews should be handled, people. Go and check them out if you need a good laugh while being informed.
Hand of Isis by Jo Graham
(Cover picture courtesy of Orbit Books.)
Charmian is handmaiden to Cleopatra. She is also an oracle, gifted with ancient memories that may hold the key to preserving Egypt. Through blood and fire, war and peace, love and death, she will face a desperate struggle that will remake the future of the world.
Cleopatra is one of the most written about figures in history and I’ve rarely seen a new take on her story. Yet Jo Graham has managed to do this in Hand of Isis by telling the story from the perspective of her half-sister handmaiden, Charmian. As you can probably guess from the blurb, Charmian has special powers that help her half-sister rule Egypt in a time when only men were rulers and this book is a cross between fantasy and historical fiction. Yet this mixture of fantasy and history works well because Jo Graham has obviously done her research on the historical events.
The plot is not exactly fast, but it certainly is interesting. You will learn more about Cleopatra reading this novel than you will from any history textbook out there, I guarantee that. Jo Graham has paid incredible attention to historical details, so much that I would say not even Pauline Gedge has managed this level of attention to detail. And that’s really saying something. Filled with romantic subplots and magic, Hand of Isis will also keep you reading into the early morning hours, even though you probably can guess how the story ends.
Charmian is a very realistic protagonist because like real people, she is full of contradictions. She is sort of carefree when it comes to love, but at the same time she is responsible because she takes control of some of the governmental functions so Cleopatra is not as overwhelmed. Cleopatra herself is definitely not the cold-blooded seductress that the Romans and most of history painted her as, but a capable leader who would do anything for her country. What she, Charmian and Iras sacrifice for Egypt truly is amazing.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Other Alexander by Andrew Levkoff
(Cover picture courtesy of PRLog.)
The Other Alexander is the first book in the epic trilogy The Bow of Heaven. Alexander, a young Greek philosophy student, is wrenched from a life unlived to submit to the whims of an empire—as a slave of Rome. In a world would without choice, he must use his cunning and wits to gain the trust of one of the most powerful men in the Republic.
Yet no matter how high he climbs, or how deeply he falls in love, Alexander’s life is still bound by the will of another. When his master becomes blinded by revenge, the fates of both owner and owned become slaves to a terrible choice. A choice which will threaten the very life of the empire one has ruled, and the other has been forced to serve.
Perhaps it’s the fact that I prattle on about history constantly, but I can guarantee you that everyone in my family and small circle of friends has heard of Gaius Julius Caesar. How could they not when he is such a cultural phenomenon, even two thousand years later? Yet while Julius Caesar is a household name, very few people have heard of Marcus Licinius Crassus. Even among historians, he is dismissed as the weak third member of the First Triumvirate, nothing more than the man who bankrolled the wars of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. But in The Other Alexander, I believe Andrew Levkoff has done for Crassus what Pauline Gedge did for Kamose Tao or what Robert Graves did for Claudius.
In a style reminiscent of Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian novels, Andrew Levkoff chronicles the life of Crassus through the eyes of his unfortunate slave Alexandros, called Alexander. Alexander is very similar to Smith’s Taita in the way he becomes invaluable to his master and ends up running the household. Also like Smith’s Taita, he constantly reflects on life with the complex, sometimes arrogant mind of a philosopher. Alexander’s forceful personality is part of what makes him a good character, but he makes the jump from a good character to a great character because he is full of contradictions, just like real people.
The first few chapters are slowly paced to draw the reader in without completely disorienting them with the foreign world of ancient Rome. However, the pace picks up steadily throughout the novel and by the end it rivals Conn Iggulden’s famously fast-paced novels. However, unlike Conn Iggulden, Andrew Levkoff does not change history so blatantly. As far as I know, The Other Alexander is one of the most historically accurate pieces of historical fiction I’ve ever read. You can certainly tell there was a great deal of research and care put into this novel.
My only true criticism is that this should have been proofread better. I caught several missing quotation marks in the dialogue and even the use of ‘pray’ instead of ‘prey’ in this passage on page 256:
“In that case, Gaius, you are nothing. Pray on some other patrician’s wife.”
Yet these mistakes do not detract from the overall quality of the novel and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in Roman history, particularly that of the late Republic.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Emperor: The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of Whitcoulls Ebooks.)
The year is 53 B.C. Julius Ceasar approaches his final destiny—a destiny that will be decided not by legions but by his friend Brutus and a bewitching Egyptian queen named Cleopatra.
Fresh from victory in Gaul, Julius Caesar leads his battle-hardened legions across the Rubicon. The armies of Rome will face each other at last in civil war, led by the two greatest generals ever to walk the seven hills.
From the spectacles of the arena to the whispered lies of conspirators, Conn Iggulden brings to life a world marked by fierce loyalty and bitter betrayal, with dark events shrouded in noble ideas.
Emperor: The Gods of War was my introduction to both Conn Iggulden and the world of Gaius Julius Caesar, despite the fact that this book is the fourth (and last) book in the Emperor series. My mother had bought it for me for my birthday one year and she is notoriously bad at finding the first book in a series. Nevertheless, I read it and it left quite the impression on me.
The Gods of War is the most exciting book in the series and is an example of Conn Iggulden at his finest. Love, lust, friendship, loyalty and betrayal are all prominent themes and they are what make reading this book a cinematic experience. I vote for the Emperor series to be the next series adapted into movies because the screenwriters would not even have to alter the story very much. The characters are larger than life and there’s hardly ever a dull scene.
Conn Iggulden really brings his characters to life, thus making history a bit more accessible to the average modern reader. He generally sticks to the facts of historical events, but what sets his books apart is the fact that he assigns realistic motivations to the people behind these events, particularly Caesar. When he writes, it feels like he was really at these events and knew the people that caused them. One scene in particular stands out in my mind, when Brutus complains to his mother, Servilia, that Julius overshadows him:
“I am the best of my generation, Mother. I could have ruled. But I had the misfortune to be born to a Rome with Julius in it. I have suffered it for years. I have pledged my life to him and he cannot see it.”
She pulled back from him at last and shook her head. “You’re too proud, Brutus. Even for a son of mine you are too proud.”
I think Iggulden hit the nail on the head with that scene, which of course leads up to the infamous Ides of March.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.