The Historical Nove

I was going through some old books only this week and I came across one I hadn’t read for absolutely ages, The Flames of Rome. What always impressed me about this novel, was and is that every single person named existed, and I’m reminded of Wolf Hall, which I admit I’ve never read. I’ve never read it simply because I’ve never liked Thomas Cromwell, to be honest I never liked many of the Tudors, except maybe Anne of Cleves and Katherine Parr, although Katherine Parr did not escape and perhaps the only person who did, and only did because she accepted the terms that Henry gave her, was Anne of Cleves, and even she suffered during the reign of Henry’s son, Edward. But I digress, for anyone who has never read it The Flames of Rome is an astounding novel.

It tells the story of Titus Flavius Sabinus, brother to Vespasian (yes, that Vespasian) who died fighting on the Capitoline Hill so that his brother could succeed as Emperor – and the Senate awarded Sabinus the highest funeral the Empire could bestow and his statue was erected in the forum. But this is only the end of the tale, Sabinus lived during one of the most turbulent eras of history, during the reign of Claudius and then of Nero. What’s even more important is that every event is also true, we have the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius which documents all the events and pretty much most of the people, it’s even possible to look up people like Aulus Plautius online although I would suggest going back to the written record as I was always told when reading for my Degree, that the Internet is not a reliable reference source – even if the information it holds is accurate – after all there are still YouTuber’s out there who consistently claim that Rome never existed, and that all the archaeological finds were created by those seeking for them and that it’s all a fake – much like Piltdown Man. As you might imagine this infuriates me more than I can say, but as my husband is wont to say, “It’s like spitting into the wind, useless and a waste of resources.” Plus the fact that this makes me so angry that I could actually do them serious harm, which doesn’t really work either.

Maier never states that Sabinus was a Christian, although he suggests as much in his writings; as he does with the suggestion that the Theophilus of Luke’s Gospel and his Acts is in fact Sabinus, but he never explicitly states that this is the case (although it would be marvellous if it could be proved, but I admit that this is unlikely.) Maier does suggest that both Sabinus and his wife Plautia became Christians themselves from his own research into Sabinus as a good and honourable man.

As I previously wrote in the first paragraph, for anyone who says that such things couldn’t or didn’t happen, Maier’s notes at the end of the book prove unequivocally that they did, that Nero was as crazed as he appears and that yes, Nero did make his horse a Senator.

When he’s not sure, or when sources suggest other things, the author is quick to point out that this is the case. For example there is evidence that Sabinus’s children may have become Jews, but the author only mentions it in the notes and doesn’t go into detail. All in all, The Flames of Rome should be a guide to anyone who wants to write The Historical Novel. Especially bearing in mind that pretty much everybody mentioned in it, by name, actually existed. As you might imagine, despite other people’s lacklustre reviews, I adored this book. It clarified so many things for me, Peter, Paul, early Christianity in Rome and despite my revulsion, Nero’s persecution of the Christians. I would recommend this book to anyone.