Depending on how much you believe
the ancient scholars, the vices at Emperor Caligula’s court in ancient Rome ran the gamut from incest
to poisoning, and that was just the emperor himself. Those who weren’t partying
with him like it was 41 A.D. were trying to keep their heads down and escape
notice. This was one era in history where you didn’t advance at court by attracting
the sovereign’s attention. If you were unlucky enough to catch Caligula’s eye,
he’d probably accuse you of treason, have you executed, sell your family into
slavery and steal your wealth. It’s no wonder the Romans cursed Caligula and
the horse he rode in on, which he’d deified the year before his assassination.
Reading about people living under such perilous circumstance
gave me the idea for Mask of theGladiator. I wanted to write a story about two individuals caught up in the
extraordinary events of their time, in this case, the tyrannical rule of
Caligula and the assassination which brought it to an end. I also wanted to
explore how love could help two people survive the danger and give them the
courage to stand up to a tyrant.
I had a lot of fun researching ancient Rome and weaving my
hero and heroine, Titus and Livia, into the historical record. It was
challenging because, not only did I have to wade through a lot of bad ancient
publicity about Caligula to get to the truth, but I also had to work within
some predetermined constraints when crafting the story. For example, there are
ancient accounts of Caligula’s assassination. While I wrote, I had to keep the
accounts in mind so that Livia and Titus would be present when the daggers
started flying. To add more realism to
their story, I surrounded them with actual historical figures involved in the
plot. Thankfully, ancient Rome is so well documented that it wasn’t difficult
to gather names and details of the era. I was even able to pinpoint specific
historical events that took place one year after the assassination and add them
to Livia and Titus’ story.
By the time 41 A.D. drew to a close, there was a new emperor
on the throne and a sense of peace and optimism for Rome’s future. The empire
had survived the crazy antics of Tiberius and Caligula, and was starting to
thrive under the stabling influence of Claudius. In an era when many people’s
lives did not end with a happily ever after, it was fun to create a story where
they did.
If you enjoy history then you will love my books because I weave a lot of real history into the fictional plots.
For more posts on writing and history click here and here.
For more posts on writing and history click here and here.
