Early Middle Ages
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Major developments in the political, social, and religious history of western Europe from the...
Binge Thinking History
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A history show of the amateur armchair persuasion whose interest is derived from the Napoleonic idea...
Carving Classical Styles in Wood
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This book explains the principles of classical ornamentation and how the motifs evolved through the...
Ben-Hur (2016)
5.9
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Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur, wrongly accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala of the Roman...
Epic Historical period drama Remake Reimagining
Juame Collet-Serra recommended Rosemary's Baby (1968) in Movies (curated)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
8.0
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Set during World War Two, an awkward young German boy whose only ally is his imaginary friend Hitler...
Power and Public Finance at Rome, 264-49 BCE
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Rome's wars delivered great wealth to the conquerors, but how did this affect politics and society...
ClareR (5784 KP) rated Shield of the Rising Sun (Path of Nemesis #3) in Books
Sep 8, 2020
The story is told by three characters: Albinus, his son Faustus, and Faustus’ uncle, Calvus. The battle scenes, mainly from Albinus’ point of view, were gory (I like this - I know, probably a bit odd!) and the politics with all the infighting and back-stabbing was fascinating. How did anyone ever feel safe at this time? I’ll answer that: if they were clever, they NEVER felt safe!
This story shows the true reach of the Roman Empire - there are scenes in Britain, Germany and Egypt, as well as in Rome. It frankly amazed me how quickly Roman soldiers seemed to be able to travel - and mostly (if not solely) on foot!
The main characters were all three very likeable men, who had me rooting for them throughout - even though it was pretty obvious what would happen to one of them from the start )I’m giving nothing away here!).
I enjoy reading a lot of historical fiction, and it’s not often that I read books set in the Roman period. I don’t know why, there’s no reason I can think of, and this makes me realise that I really should read more! If, like me, you’re a fan of historical fiction, then you’ll enjoy the rich descriptions and history packed story within the pages of this book.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to Adam Lofthouse for joining in and commenting in the margins!
His previous novels - <i>Ship of Rome</i>, <i>Captain of Rome</i> and <i>Masters of Rome</i> all concerned the Roman navy during the first Punic war against Carthage. While this novel is not part of that series, it also has another unusual setting: this time, that of the Spanish Armada.
While it does have an unusual setting, it also shares some similarites with those other books: again, the main protaganist of the novel is an outsider, this time a loyal Recusant (or practising, secret, Catholic) in the English navy compared to the Greek captain in the Roman navy of the <i>Masters of the Sea</i> series. Again, a large chunk of it takes place on sea, rather than on land. Again, it is an enjoyable read.
A Cultural History of Women in Antiquity
Book
A Cultural History of Women in Antiquity explores women's history in the West from 500 BCE to...