Friends, Romans, Countrymen
Jul. 11th, 2005 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI will read or watch (or at least try to) anything involving ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. I couldn't help myself ever since I was 8, sick, and with my hands on a book of Greek Myths with photographs of statuary, pottery and bas reliefs.
My first crush was Spartacus, the hero is Rafaello Jiovaniogli's (sp?) 19th century novel. Translated from Italian, it was quite popular in the Soviet Union, and I pored over its pages with the devotion of a religious fanatic. I wrote him a love letter, even. In my defense, I was 9, and when I reread the book recently, I found he was still droolworthy, possessing all the characteristics Dangermousie requires in her fictional crushes: angsty, hot, super-competent and passionately devoted to one woman. (It also gave me a secondary crush on Sergius Catilina, but that's another story).
In fact, my childhood is rather marked by these "ancient world" books. The thing I remember most about my 4th grade, was poring breathlessly with my best friend, waiting until she finished the page so I could turn it over, over "Thais of Athens" by Ivan Efremov, a novel of Ptolemy's hetaira who inspired the burning of Persepolis. My first book report in class was on Euripides' Alcestis, and the teacher did not believe I had actually read it until I retold her the plot, point by point. (It's rather depressing to think that I read the bulk of good serious literature by the time I was 15, and then switched to frivolity :D). My parents gave me Montet's "Everyday life among Egyptians" and the plays of Aeschyus for New Year's, and I cried my eyes out at the Polish movie adaptation of Boleslav Prus' "The Pharaoh," about a fictional Ramses XIII, someone too good for his times (of course, Prus wrote it as allegory, but I was entirely too young to notice).
The first book I read in Engish was Bulwer-Lytton's "Last Days of Pompeii." I understood one word in three but I was determined: it had ancient Greeks and Romans after all.
The obsession abated quite a bit since, but I still can't resist anything set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Sometimes it leads to quite amazing treasures (Mary Renault's "The King Must Die" about Theseus is one of my favorite books, and so is Henryk Sienkewitz's "Quo Vadis"), and sometimes it leads to...Hercules movies.
Basically, this is a very long and rambly prologue to two more entrants into "I only read/watched it because it had the ancient world connection." One is good. One...well, it's better than the Hercules movies. Somewhat.
The good entrant is "Julius Caesar," the 4 hour TV miniseries made a couple of years ago that was shown on TNT last night. Of course, they simplify history (the last hour simply flies by. Bam, Pompey's head, Bam, Cleopatra etc etc), and they change events somewhat to suit the story (I don't think Sulla ever wanted Caesar's heart to feed to his dogs), but overall, it is amazingly good (from what I've seen so far. I skimmed it). Head and shoulders above the dreadful "Empire" that aired earlier in the summer. Why?
1. They do not create a fictional character and make him the focus, which is plainly absurd when the real story is teeming with interesting men. Nope, Caesar is the main character, and secondary characters are Brutus, Pompey, Cato, Sulla etc, not fictional gladiators.
2. They might change events a bit, but they don't change the basic sense of the character (as in the horrible "Empire" where Augustus turned into a Warrior Stud, Cassius into a rapist of Caesar's sister, and Anthony a completely useless hand-in-glove with Brutus wimp). Caesar might not have wished to pardon Vercingetorix (in this version he does, but he is constrained by the wishes of the mob and his sense of political advantage. Points to them for keeping the conversation really private, so it could have concievably happened), but they don't change stuff about basic character of their historical protagonists. And the scene with Pompey telling Caesar to get out of Sulla's Rome and giving him his ring as a token, probably also didn't happen, but it makes dramatic sense (unlike Empire where their meddling just made the events less interesting), doesn't screw up the characters, and plus...I get excited seeing Pompey on screen. Poor Magnus never gets much screen or page time (anyone know a good book on him, fiction or non, let me know), but he does in this version. The fact that he is played by the hot Chris Noth doesn't hurt :D
3. Little things make me happy. Like the scene of Caesar refusing to divorce Cornelia on Sulla's orders, or Cato killing himself, or Julia dying in childbirth, to Caesar dying under Pompey's statue. They show all of these!
4. The epilogue cracks me up. Basically, it rounds up the remaining characters and no matter what, ends up with "he/she killed himself." Accurate, but depressing.
Of course, the actor playing Caesar is competent but has no Caesar-like charisma, but overall, a worthwhile 4 hours. I only wish it was on DVD, because I missed the first 15 minutes or so.
And now, the entrant in the "purely awful" category. Conn Igguldsen's "Emperor" series. It is supposed to follow the life of Julius Caesar. "Supposed" being the operative word. If he wrote a fantasy with this plot, it would be passable. As a retelling of Caesar's life, it is notable mainly for "he changed what? what is he going to do next?" feeling. It's a page-turner in that way, and keeps the reader in suspense because it bears little to no resemblance to real history. For all I know, Caesar will kill Brutus in the end. OK, there is way too much wrong in these books for me to write it up (not helped by the fact that the author randomly changes things for NO reason, e.g. making Marius Caesar's uncle on the wrong side of the family. Why? How does it concievably matter? Why screw it up?), but I have to share some "gems:"
Did you know Brutus and Caesar were childhood best friends who grew up together? Brutus' mom was a whore though.
Both Brutus and Caesar compete for the love of a really boring slave girl throughout. But Caesar has a really unfair advantage as Brutus is sent to learn the army ropes (as a great honor) as a simple rank legionnaire.
Marius does not come back and retake the Consulship for the 7th time. He just dies.
Cornelia, Caesar's wife? Evil Roman guy (Cato, I think. It hurts my head to remember) murders her. So he gets promptly murdered as well. Nice to know all the historians were wrong.
And so forth. It is so bad it passes the realm of badness and becomes camp instead.
And I end this ramble by soliciting book recs set in ancient world. Hopefully not ones where Cato murders Cornelia :)
My first crush was Spartacus, the hero is Rafaello Jiovaniogli's (sp?) 19th century novel. Translated from Italian, it was quite popular in the Soviet Union, and I pored over its pages with the devotion of a religious fanatic. I wrote him a love letter, even. In my defense, I was 9, and when I reread the book recently, I found he was still droolworthy, possessing all the characteristics Dangermousie requires in her fictional crushes: angsty, hot, super-competent and passionately devoted to one woman. (It also gave me a secondary crush on Sergius Catilina, but that's another story).
In fact, my childhood is rather marked by these "ancient world" books. The thing I remember most about my 4th grade, was poring breathlessly with my best friend, waiting until she finished the page so I could turn it over, over "Thais of Athens" by Ivan Efremov, a novel of Ptolemy's hetaira who inspired the burning of Persepolis. My first book report in class was on Euripides' Alcestis, and the teacher did not believe I had actually read it until I retold her the plot, point by point. (It's rather depressing to think that I read the bulk of good serious literature by the time I was 15, and then switched to frivolity :D). My parents gave me Montet's "Everyday life among Egyptians" and the plays of Aeschyus for New Year's, and I cried my eyes out at the Polish movie adaptation of Boleslav Prus' "The Pharaoh," about a fictional Ramses XIII, someone too good for his times (of course, Prus wrote it as allegory, but I was entirely too young to notice).
The first book I read in Engish was Bulwer-Lytton's "Last Days of Pompeii." I understood one word in three but I was determined: it had ancient Greeks and Romans after all.
The obsession abated quite a bit since, but I still can't resist anything set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Sometimes it leads to quite amazing treasures (Mary Renault's "The King Must Die" about Theseus is one of my favorite books, and so is Henryk Sienkewitz's "Quo Vadis"), and sometimes it leads to...Hercules movies.
Basically, this is a very long and rambly prologue to two more entrants into "I only read/watched it because it had the ancient world connection." One is good. One...well, it's better than the Hercules movies. Somewhat.
The good entrant is "Julius Caesar," the 4 hour TV miniseries made a couple of years ago that was shown on TNT last night. Of course, they simplify history (the last hour simply flies by. Bam, Pompey's head, Bam, Cleopatra etc etc), and they change events somewhat to suit the story (I don't think Sulla ever wanted Caesar's heart to feed to his dogs), but overall, it is amazingly good (from what I've seen so far. I skimmed it). Head and shoulders above the dreadful "Empire" that aired earlier in the summer. Why?
1. They do not create a fictional character and make him the focus, which is plainly absurd when the real story is teeming with interesting men. Nope, Caesar is the main character, and secondary characters are Brutus, Pompey, Cato, Sulla etc, not fictional gladiators.
2. They might change events a bit, but they don't change the basic sense of the character (as in the horrible "Empire" where Augustus turned into a Warrior Stud, Cassius into a rapist of Caesar's sister, and Anthony a completely useless hand-in-glove with Brutus wimp). Caesar might not have wished to pardon Vercingetorix (in this version he does, but he is constrained by the wishes of the mob and his sense of political advantage. Points to them for keeping the conversation really private, so it could have concievably happened), but they don't change stuff about basic character of their historical protagonists. And the scene with Pompey telling Caesar to get out of Sulla's Rome and giving him his ring as a token, probably also didn't happen, but it makes dramatic sense (unlike Empire where their meddling just made the events less interesting), doesn't screw up the characters, and plus...I get excited seeing Pompey on screen. Poor Magnus never gets much screen or page time (anyone know a good book on him, fiction or non, let me know), but he does in this version. The fact that he is played by the hot Chris Noth doesn't hurt :D
3. Little things make me happy. Like the scene of Caesar refusing to divorce Cornelia on Sulla's orders, or Cato killing himself, or Julia dying in childbirth, to Caesar dying under Pompey's statue. They show all of these!
4. The epilogue cracks me up. Basically, it rounds up the remaining characters and no matter what, ends up with "he/she killed himself." Accurate, but depressing.
Of course, the actor playing Caesar is competent but has no Caesar-like charisma, but overall, a worthwhile 4 hours. I only wish it was on DVD, because I missed the first 15 minutes or so.
And now, the entrant in the "purely awful" category. Conn Igguldsen's "Emperor" series. It is supposed to follow the life of Julius Caesar. "Supposed" being the operative word. If he wrote a fantasy with this plot, it would be passable. As a retelling of Caesar's life, it is notable mainly for "he changed what? what is he going to do next?" feeling. It's a page-turner in that way, and keeps the reader in suspense because it bears little to no resemblance to real history. For all I know, Caesar will kill Brutus in the end. OK, there is way too much wrong in these books for me to write it up (not helped by the fact that the author randomly changes things for NO reason, e.g. making Marius Caesar's uncle on the wrong side of the family. Why? How does it concievably matter? Why screw it up?), but I have to share some "gems:"
Did you know Brutus and Caesar were childhood best friends who grew up together? Brutus' mom was a whore though.
Both Brutus and Caesar compete for the love of a really boring slave girl throughout. But Caesar has a really unfair advantage as Brutus is sent to learn the army ropes (as a great honor) as a simple rank legionnaire.
Marius does not come back and retake the Consulship for the 7th time. He just dies.
Cornelia, Caesar's wife? Evil Roman guy (Cato, I think. It hurts my head to remember) murders her. So he gets promptly murdered as well. Nice to know all the historians were wrong.
And so forth. It is so bad it passes the realm of badness and becomes camp instead.
And I end this ramble by soliciting book recs set in ancient world. Hopefully not ones where Cato murders Cornelia :)
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 03:38 pm (UTC)It reminds me of when you want to end a story and end up writing something like "and then a meteor came, crashed into the earth and everyone died".
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 04:04 pm (UTC)Hmmm, fiction recommendations for you – well, I’m quite fond of Steven Saylor’s mystery series set in the last days of the Republic. The first one, Roman Blood, is a little slow, but I really like them starting with Catilina’s Riddle which is the third in the series (although you need to read book 2 - Arms of Nemesis - for the family dynamic that happens in Catilina’s Riddle). What I like about these books is less the mysteries, which are usually not all that interesting anyway, and more the depiction of life and the family issues of Gordianus and how those are entwined with the fall of the Republic.
I also love Lindsey Davis’s Falco books (again more for the atmosphere than the plots) but I think you perhaps have already read those?
Allan Massie has written a number of books about various Caesars, although I haven’t read any of them, but I’ve read other stuff he’s written. And there’s Marguerite Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian.
Actually, though, my absolute favorite book about Ancient Rome is nonfiction – Tom Holland’s wonderful Rubicon, again about the end of the Republic. And SO good!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 04:10 pm (UTC)I'll check out Saylor's books as they sound really interesting. I've read and loved the Falco series, and Rubicon which has consoled me over many a long metro ride. It's not often you find a non-fiction book which really keeps you turning the pages.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 06:26 pm (UTC)The Saylor books are really good - I'm kind of in love with his Catilina and with Meto, who is someone who becomes more and more important as the series progresses. A couple of the more recent ones (A Mist of Prophecies) were, IMO, weaker. But some are excellent.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 06:33 pm (UTC)I'll check if our library has it.
Re: Rubicon. I wonder if Holland has written anything else. Must search and see.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 08:35 pm (UTC)I liked that TNT series too--saw it when it first aired, but I didn't realize they were showing it again last night. I'm kicking myself for not having taped it.
Also, for a novel on ancient Egypt, I have an audio version of "The Egyptian" by Mika Waltari. It's quite an old novel, but I really enjoyed it. Here's the summary from audible.com:
The world of ancient Egypt springs magnificently to life in this astonishing historical novel of love, war, political intrigue, and religious revolution. Told from the first person point of view, it is the story of Sinuhe, physician to the royal court of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his successors in the middle of the tumultuous 14th century B.C. From his exalted position, Sinuhe was able to observe and participate in some of the most intimate and important decisions that affected the powerful Egyptian kingdom of the 18th Dynasty during a very troubled period of its history. Waltari brilliantly captures the life and rhythms of the ancient world as it was 3,400 years ago.
When Sinuhe is sent as envoy to various foreign courts, including Babylon, Syria, and Crete, he encounters strange people with even stranger customs and beliefs. But Sinuhe is a tortured soul, a man who has been in love many times, and always to his sorrow. He travels to forget. Based on actual historical events, Sinuhe encounters many of the real life characters who are familiar to many: Pharaoh Akhnaton, Queen Nefertiti, Tutankhamon, and the ruthless Horemheb...all real people whose lives, images, and stories are known to us from stone engravings, sculpture, and papyrus chronicles brought to light by modern archaeology.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-11 09:50 pm (UTC)I've heard good things about McCullogh, so will try her one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 01:20 am (UTC)