For a change from my usual selection of Irish tales in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, this month we’ll honor the Ides of March with stories set in ancient Rome - a rich milieu for storytelling. These books provide keen insight into this vanished world and explore the opportunities - and restrictions - of high-born women close to men of power.
We begin at the beginning of the imperial era with JULIA, DAUGHTER OF ROME by Elizabeth Elson. Daughter and only child of Octavian, who took power after Julius Caesar was slain, Julia occupies a place of privilege - but is essentially an asset to be deployed by her father for political gain. In a quest to obtain an heir of his own blood to follow him, her father marries her off to two men in turn…but her heart is given to Iullus, son of her father’s rival Marc Anthony. After she’s widowed a second time, while her father schemes a third marriage, she and Iullus no longer try to deny their love. They meet clandestinely, their illicit relationship risking Julia’s position, reputation and her very life. Full of detail about the daily Roman life, from clothing to rituals to the chief events and important figures of her time, Elson’s story is sure to fascinate.
We see a different view of Julia in DAUGHTERS OF THE PALATINE HILL by Phyllis T. Smith. Returning triumphantly from his defeat of Marc Antony, Octavian, now Emperor Augustus, brings back to Rome Selene, a daughter of the conquered Queen Cleopatra, to become a companion to his wife Livia and daughter Julia. The three women share an uncertain bond, Livia bound to support her powerful husband, Julia pressed to deny her own passions and obey her father, and Selene, walking a thin line between loyalty to those who killed her family and the desire for revenge. None of these women control their destiny; all must struggle to adapt their thoughts and needs to survive the danger and intrigue of the imperial court.
We meet a very different person from Augustus’s reign FEAST OF SORROW by Crystal King, whose antagonist is based on a famous first-century gourmand, Marcus Gavius Apicius, the author of numerous cookbooks and the developer of the multi-course feasts, cenas, so characteristic of imperial Rome. The fabulously wealthy Apicius aspires to become chief culinary advisor to Caesar, and according to this account, goes about achieving that aim by purchasing a talented slave, our narrator, Thrasius, who is the true genius behind Apicius’s epicurean success. The young man becomes a part of the family, growing fond of Apicius’s gentle wife Aelia, her daughter Apicata, and falls in love with the daughter’s nursemaid, Passia. All goes well until, in pursuit of his ambition, Apicius refuses to sell Thrasius to Publius Octavius, Caesar’s current culinary advisor, thereby angering the emperor’s powerful wife Livia. And when the lovely, now teenaged Apicata draws the attention of Caesar’s heir, Tiberius, Apicius’s defiance will have dire consequences for everyone connected to his family. A Roman tour de force with a culinary focus!
We move on to the reign of Domitian in MISTRESS OF ROME: Empress of Rome Book 1 by Kate Quinn. Our main character here is the fictitious Thea, a slave captured in Judaea and purchased by spoiled heiress Lepida Pollia. Thea finds refuge from her mistress’s spiteful control in her love for music; when Lepida discovers her slave has fallen in love with Rome’s newest gladiatorial hero, Arius, she is cast out. To survive, Thea harnesses her musical talent to eventually become one of the Roman aristocracy’s most popular singers. But her hopes of independence—and creating a life with Arius, are stymied when her lovely voice captivates the emperor himself. Quinn’s portrait of the power, violence and danger of Ancient Rome is mesmerizing.
For those who love Quinn’s storytelling, she continues her tales of the Roman world with THE DAUGHTER OF ROME: Empress of Rome Book 2, set during the Year of the Four Emperors, EMPRESS OF THE SEVEN HILLS: Empress of Rome Book 3, set during the reign of Emperor Trajan and LADY OF THE ETERNAL CITY: Empress of Rome Book 4, featuring Hadrian’s rein.
We end our quartet of visits to Ancient Rome with DOMINA by Paul Doherty. Narrated by one-eyed former gladiator Parmenon, we witness the battle of Agrippina, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero, to survive in the cruel and dangerous imperial court. She survives the assassination of her father, the plot to end the rule of Tiberius, and attempts to banish her by her brother Caligula. But her blind love and ambition for her son Nero will ultimately prove her undoing.
With a bounty of Roma-set stories to intrigue you, may your Ides of March prove relaxing and enjoyable!
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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