Before diving into this week's blog, it's GIVEAWAY TIME! On Wednesday, June 10th, I'll be giving away autographed copies of BOTH of my books to one lucky reader. To be entered, one only has to subscribe to my website. If you are already subscribed, you are good to go! And if you've already purchased my books or read them, consider giving them as a gift to someone, if you win. A;so, if you know of friends who enjoy reading and might be interested, please let them know!

This week on my blog, we're visiting Alexandria by land, going ashore a bit to see some sites that are both archaeological and geological. First stop is the Serapeum--or what's left of it! It's actually a grandiose site that was originally located in the Brucheum--the wealthy Greek quarters in the city, located not far rom the Sea. It was an enormous temple complex.

As a deity, Serapis is tricky to nail down. He was not an "invention" of Ptolemy Soter (Ptolemy I), but instead, was probably used by Ptolemy Soter to link Greco-Egyptian religion in a way that was more acceptable to Greeks. Serapis was a blend of Egypt's mythological Osiris and the Apis bull, yet this cult gave him a human form. Pagan Greeks were not accepting of animal-headed deities, so common in Egypt. A reminder here that even though Alexandria was IN Egypt, it was founded by Greeks (the Ptolemies), governed by them, and its culture was built by them. That being said, there is much evidence, in both Alexandrian art and in the architectural elements that have survived, that there was a blending of Egyptian and Greek styles, beliefs, and culture. 

Pictured at the left is Serapis; a very Greek-looking representation, discovered in the Serapeum temple complex in Alexandria. Because of some fascinating temple deposits found during excavations, it was discovered that the actual temple wasn't built until the reign of Ptolemy III, Euergetes (the Benefactor) in the 3rd century BC. It being the largest temple in Alexandria in antiquity, AND the fact that it was located in a highly cultural area of the city, it's a pretty sure assumption that it would have been visited by Cleopatra VII.

​As to exactly what Serapis represented? He was known for a conglameration of things. In an effort to make him "appealing" to the Egyptians, he signified Osiris's eternal/afterlife symbolism, along with the Apis bull. This was combined with the abundance and fertility of both Dionysius and Demeter in Greek mythology. I like to think of him as the Ptolemaic combo-god! But his cult really took off, and when visiting Alexandria, the site of the Serapeum is the largest Classical site  preserved in the city. At least so far!

All over Alexandria, one sees sphinxes. Most of the faces on these statuary depict various Ptolemaic rulers. It's thought that they were used as decorative elements to line roadways or entrances. One example crowns the central part of the Serapeum, along with a large column (see below on right). Called "Pompey's Pillar", the pillar's name incorrectly points to Pompeius Magnus--Caesar's rival in my book, Antonius: Second in Command. Actually, the column dates from the reign of Diocetian, having nothing to do with Pompeius Magnus who was, in fact, murdered on the shores near Alexandria. ​

Before I begin this week's post, I wanted to invite you to explore the rest of my website. My incredible web-designer, Michelle recently updated it and it looks FANTASTIC! Be sure to check out each page!

For the next two weeks, we'll be visiting Alexandria, Egypt. My next book, Antonius: Legend will feature the tempestuous love story between Antonius & Cleopatra. Many of my readers have really been looking forward to this installment, and I'm pleased to report that next week, the cover designing will begin! Portions of my next book will take place in Alexandria, now Egypt's second biggest city. Today, as one enters the city from the south, a very Greek-looking toll-booth greets you. (photo at left)

Alexandria was originally founded by Alexander the Great--hence its name. One of his favored generals, Ptolemy, managed to bring Alexander's body all the way from India to Egypt when he died. There he built a massive tomb for Alexander, called the Soma. As huge as it was, its ruins have yet to be discovered. Alexandria flourished as a center of learning, and developed what was to be the world's first library. Ptolemy also made use of the harbor space along the Nile delta and built the worlds most magnificent lighthouse: the Pharos. And all of this happened over three-hundred years before any of my stories took place. 

From an archaeological standpoint, Alexandria has always been problematic. In the past two-thousand years, a series of earthquakes and finally a tsunami ripped through the city, destroying almost all of the ancient buildings and monuments. This seismic activity was so catastrophic, that it even altered the coastline, and much of what was present back in Antonius & Cleopatra's day is now underwater. Today, many sites that are assumed to be ruins, such as the Soma, are buried beneath high-rises, making it impossible to excavate. Parts of the harbor are military zones, ruling out excavations in places such as Antirhodos Island, where Cleopatra's residence stood. So if you think it was difficult to sort out what Rome looked like in the time of the late Republic, trying to visualize 1st century BC Alexandria was ten-times worse for me! Fortunately, underwater archaeology has become an important tool for historians, AND--I had a fabulous guide--Salwa, who had a passion for the Ptolemies and Cleopatra VII.

Salwa and I were inseparable for five fantastic days. As a native of Alexandria, she took me everywhere. In the photo on the right, we were visiting the ancient odeum--a small theater that was originally used for poetry readings and musical concerts. This site was featured briefly in a scene at the end of Antonius: Son of Rome.

For this week, I'd like to introduce you to the wet side of Alexandria. This city's harbor was a bustling port ever since it was first developed by Ptolemy Soter in the late 4th century BC. The Pharos lighthouse was built at the entrance to the harbor and became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Whatever was used as a reflective device--mirrors, glass--it was effective. Some sources indicate that the Pharos was a beacon seen from several miles out of port. 

Sadly, the lighthouse was one of the many monuments destroyed by earthquakes. Portions still stood until the beginning of the 14th century, when another quake toppled it enough that Qaitbey, Sultan of Egypt, used the ruins to build a fort in its place, which stands to this day. 

Fort Qaitbey (left) is a splendid structure, and surrounding it, underwater archaeologists, led by a French team, discovered more enormous granite blocks once belonging to the Pharos. These excavations, led by Jean Ives-Empereur and Franck Goddio even yielded colossal statuary that probably stood at the mouth of the harbor, welcoming ships. Unbelieveably, many of the mammoth statuary have been recovered, and now decorate portions of what has been found of the ancient city center, near the Serapeum.

I took the photo below (at right) inside of Fort Qaitbey. These are some of the original foundations of the Pharos Lighthouse, and I was delighted to see that at least they are still partially visible for visitors.

Perhaps my biggest thrill was getting out ON the water. Whenever my characters sail from Alexandria, they departed or returned to this very harbor. Naturally, I wanted to get a feel for it. Granted, the coastline has changed and none of the original buildings are visible, but still... authors are saved by their imaginations!

Salwa helped me hire a boatman to take us for a tour of the harbor. As we approached Fort Qaitbey, the water started getting pretty choppy and by the time we were right at the mouth of the harbor (to the right of the above photo), there were whitecaps and we were rocking and rolling all over the place. Poor Salwa! I glanced behind me to see how she was faring. Practically green, she took that moment to share that she didn't know how to swim! Fortunately, we didn't stay out long. But it was a great experience, seeing first-hand the capacious harbor that once housed Marcus's big warships.

I'll close this week's blog with two final photos. The one on the bottom left shows just how grandiose the harbor is. And that's Fort Qaitbey, way out in the distance there on the left part of the horizon. And speaking of horizons... Some of my favorite sunset shots in Egypt were on Alexandria's Mediterranean coast. Next week, we'll move inland a bit from the beach and visit some of the ancient ruins that did survive, as well as see the new library that the Egyptians have built to replace Cleopatra's beloved original.

Read on, everybody!

The most common thing readers typically ask is for me to tell them about my research. Where did you go? What all did you see? Which sites were the most meaningful for you, personally?

In the next few weeks, I've decided to get a little more personal about specific places in which I've spent time, researching the Antonius Trilogy. I'll share my specific thoughts, as well as some fun-facts I learned in my travels. This week, I simply couldn't resist discussing the Roman Forum. It is truly at the heart of my first book, Antonius: Son of Rome and plays integral parts in both Second in Command and my upcoming Antonius: Legend.

If one visits Rome for the first time, and doesn't know much of its history, it's easy to mistakenly assume that everything you see was "there" throughout the entire ancient period. That is, of course, not the case. In fact, a historical fiction author like myself has to really use a lot of imagination in depicting and describing what the late Republican layout in the Forum would have looked like, because most of what you see today wasn't even built yet. The other problem is that many of the things I wish I could see no longer exist. It's a good thing that imagination is a powerful tool!

I shot the above photo from the western end of the Forum. I was actually standing inside the Tabularium--believed by most scholars to have been Republican Rome's massive archive building, and now a portion of the Capitoline Museum. In the center of this photo, toward the very bottom, you'll see a low, red-brick structure that looks hollowed-out. That is the rebuilt Rostra, the way it would have been facing in the Imperial period. Therefore, it's not the actual structure from which Marcus Antonius gave Caesar's funeral oration. Again... the problem of "seeing" the Forum as it was in the day is impossible! The original layout of the entire Comitium area--Rostra, Senate House (Curia), etc. was angled more off to the left of the picture, north of the Septimius Severus Arch (pictured). Now, look straight down the middle of the photo. There's another low, dark building with a slight point to its roof. It doesn't look like much now, but it's the remains of the Temple of Julius Caesar--built by Octavian after Caesar's assassination. It will be discussed some in my next book. To this day, people leave flowers inside the remains of this Temple in Caesar's memory. It is said to have been built on the exact spot where the plebs dragged his corpse and cremated it.

Now let your eye wander up to the right. There's a lofty hill up there, and that's the Palatine Hill where most of the Senatorial families had homes, including the Antonii. Nobody knows exactly where Marcus's domus was located up there, but for me, it's always amazing to just wander among the trees and gardens, as it's just a magical setting. Again, I find myself using my imagination to ponder what it may have looked like in the Republican Period.

One of my most vivid memories on the Palatine is receiving special permission by the Italian government to visit the House of the Griffins (photo at right). Much of what you visit in Rome is subterranean. House of the Griffins is literally buried under other ancient architecture on the Palatine and though nobody knows (yet!) whose house it was, a stunning rendering of two facing griffins is plastered in relief on one wall, which gave the site its name.

I was officially escorted by Italian security officers down a lofty set of steel stairs that were dauntingly steep. There were lights that they turned on as we progressed, and let me tell you--it was dark down there! This particular site fascinated me, as it's an old Republican home over which some of the Flavian Palaces were built. Because of the wall-paintings it's been dated to at least the 2nd century BC--older than my Trilogy's story! 

Notice the interesting frescoes. They are classified as "First Style" wall-paintings. First Style designs don't have people or animals depicted. Instead look at the lovely geometrical designs toward the bottom, but even more fascinating is the agate or marbling that was painted onto the space, imitating a natural stone surface.

It was fascinating getting to explore the House of the Griffins, though not much of it is accessible. I imagined someone like Marcus Junius Brutus living there, with its strict, old-fashioned decor that probably would have been in his family for generations.

Aside from the Palatine Hill, my favorite spot in Rome is probably the Tabularium. I actually wrote a scene there in Son of Rome because the place had made such an impression on me. (The scene where Fadia is freed!) Anyway, built in the 70's BC, this place has been used continually throughout its history--even as an apartment complex at one point! One of the reasons I think it speaks to me, is that IF it really was a public records building, then all of my main characters--Marcus, Caesar, Cicero--ALL of them probably walked inside it at one time or another. I've mentioned the poignant display of Roman funerary steles before, located inside the Tabularium. It's definitely worth the time whenever you visit Rome, and only accessible through the Capitoline Museum.

The Tabularium's architecture never ceases to awe me whenever I go inside. Lofty archways, austere Republican stone-work, and the view from the top is the Forum picture I shared at the beginning of this blog! It has to be one of the best views of the Forum Romanum in all of Rome! i'm closing with a photo I took of my cousin this past summer (at right). We were inside the Tabularium and the sheer magnitude of the arches and grand space compared to Mike (who's a pretty tall guy!) is so impressive.

For now I close, but I invite everyone back next week, when through my lens, I'll share part of a place that will figure prominently in my upcoming book, Antonius: Legend. Next week... Alexandria, Egypt! See you there!

These past few weeks in quarantine have made so many people more appreciative of what they have. Of course, one of those items has been TOILET PAPER! On Facebook, Twitter---goodness, I've never seen so many amusing jokes and memes about this much-overlooked convenience!

So, it got me thinking. 

How did the Romans "use the facilities" in their world? It might be rather eye-opening for us to find out. And, it will likely make us all relieved that we live in the 21st century!

First of all, latrines have been discovered that date back all the way to Mesopotamia. By the time the Roman civilization appeared, they'd been used for millenia. By Marc Antony's day, in the 1st century BC, public latrines that sat ten or more people at once were common. The poor plebs--citizens--obviously didn't have much privacy. Rome was a very crowded, filthy city, and despite the availability of public bath-houses and the Cloaca Maxima--the big sewer--hygiene was not good. Among the common people's living conditions, sanitation was not a high priority, which is somewhat surprising, since the Romans were such geniuses when it came to engineering. Fortunately, Mt. Vesuvius preserved the perfect microcosm of ancient Roman life, so that we're able to see and experience what it was like back in the day.

​It was normal for gutters in the streets to be running with raw sewage--both human and animal. Builders would intentionally design roadways with large stepping-stones over which pedestrians could pass without soiling their sandals. Carts must have had high axels to accommodate the stones, as some I've jumped across were well over a foot high. In addition, there were sidewalks on the sides of some streets, but they were narrow. 

In this photo, I'm navigating a city street in Pompeii, the way Romans once did, using the stepping-stones. Gutters on both sides would have been running with  waste. The smell would have been unbelieveable. Note the sidewalks on either side. These are rather wide ones, since this is one of Pompeii's larger thoroughfares, but oft-times they were much narrower. 

​These public latrines are located at the ancient site of Ostia Antica, just outside of Rome. I have seen many public latrines, but this one is probably the largest I've ever run across. 

Mt. Vesuvius also preserved an impressive villa in Oplontis, which was once an imperial villa, used by Nero's wife, Poppaea. While visiting the site, I located a single, private latrine. It was unclear as to whether it had been plumbed. Most likely it was just a pit-toilet, which would have been occasionally serviced by slaves. Any "night-soil" would have been removed and used for agriculture. This being said, the wealthy also used chamber-pots.

Urine was actually a hot commodity in the Roman world. Vespasian actually began taxing for it in the late 1st century AD. Uric acid was used for a lot of different things, including--UGH!!!--mouthwash for teeth-whitening! (I couldn't make this stuff up!) But perhaps its most important use was in laundering. Fullers would actually have large amphorae outside their establishments and on street corners, so that men could relieve themselves and do a civic duty all at the same time. Wow. And that, folks, was how Caesar got his toga cleaned. For real.

Lastly, we've all been lamenting the plentiful aisles of toilet paper, but at least we HAVE toilet paper. In a public latrine in ancient Rome, you'd have a dubious-looking pail with a sponge on a stick. Behold the xylospongium! Now, it merely takes imagination as to HOW this contraption was used and how often public slaves (city-owned and obviously overjoyed at their lot in life) would come around to change the water in the pails. Okay, okay.... I'll stop here. But you get the idea!

It was thanks to the Roman military that hygiene began to be associated with health and well-being. One of the very first things that legions built were latrines. Permanent military forts were always built near a clean source of water, too. 

Most of the information I've shared comes from the Oxford Classical Dictionary and a few online sources. For more reading on ancient sanitation, there is a fantastic online article in Nature: https://www.nature.com/news/the-secret-history-of-ancient-toilets-1.19960.  Be sure to check it out!

I wish everyone good health during the continuing pandemic crisis... and plenteous rolls of toilet paper, too!

One of the things that makes being an author such a joy is meeting and getting to know other authors and their works. When it comes to all things Wars of the Roses, one expert stands out... Anne Easter Smith. I read her excellent work on Richard III this past year, and found her usage of his burial's excavation account within her text as pure genius. I'd like to welcome Anne to my blog. You're sure to enjoy her words this week.


Thanks so much for having me join your blog today, Brook. You told me I could write about anything I liked, so I have!
 
“Write what you know” was often advised when I plunged into the murky waters of literary endeavor and found myself floundering about in that terrifying first foray. So I did. 

What I “knew” centered on a king who died 528 years ago on a boggy field outside of Leicester, smack in the middle of England. A history nut from adolescence, I came upon a book in my early twenties by English mystery writer Josephine Tey called DAUGHTER OF TIME that repudiated everything I had learned at school about one of our “Bad” kings, Richard III. When I had turned the last page, I became a Ricardian fanatic.
 
What they didn’t tell me about writing was that, along with your knowledge of a subject, a strong dose of passion would lift your book above the ordinary. I learned this when an editor recognized it in my first effort at a novel, “A Rose for the Crown.” She told me my passion for righting the wrong done to Richard shone through every page.
 
For more than 40 years I devoured everything I could find about Shakespeare’s crookback protagonist, the much-maligned King Richard. Boy, oh boy, must Richard have flipped over in his grave as Will penned his play. (Now that we have found Richard’s bones under a car park in Leicester and know he was squashed, without even a shroud, into a shallow, makeshift spot under the nave of the one-time Greyfriars church, the poor man couldn’t have done much more than wiggle a toe much less turn over.) For 40 years, I would rave passionately about how erroneously Shakespeare and the other Tudor propagandists had chronicled Richard’s story.

But pontificating (read, being a bore) at parties didn’t fulfill my manic obsession to tell the world how wrong the history books were. Mercifully, I found I was not alone. There is actually a Richard III Society, begun in the 1920s, to attempt to redress his reputation. Today there are several thousand of us all over the world.
 
To write that first book, I became a self-styled expert on all things Wars of the Roses. My library of reference books on the period has grown to fill a bookcase and three drawers of a filing cabinet! After writing five books at the behest of Simon & Schuster, I became a victim of the current downturn in the industry. “Historical fiction readers want strong female protagonists,” my agent was told by most of the editors to whom we pitched THIS SON OF YORK. “They don’t want to read about men. Also, unfortunately for you, the medieval period is now OUT. Why don’t you write me a book about World War II? And besides the book is far too long for today’s busy readers.” (Hilary Mantel, take note!)
 
So three strikes, and I was out of the running to have my “passion project” traditionally published. Thankfully, I hooked up with a small independent publisher in my home state of Massachusetts, Bellastoria Press, and I believe they have done a wonderful job producing the book, with the help of cover artist Sanford Farrier, so it blends in with my other books on the shelf. I hope you will agree. This is the book I should have written first but was too chicken to get into Richard’s head! After writing around him for the first five, I think I have the measure of him now, and he spoke quite easily through me during the writing of his story.


Again, a huge thanks to Anne for taking time to be my guest blogger for April. Below are links to all of her books, so for those of you with a thirst for reads taking place in the late Middle Ages, have at it! 

​Everyone stay well and be sure to drop me a line if there's something you'd like me to blog about!

When I was a child, I remember watching Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston, and being particularly moved by the scene in which Judah goes into the leper's colony to find his mother and sister. This was the first movie I'd ever watched about the ancient world, and to this day, it remains one of my favorites. The pitiable isolation of the lepers and their doomed condition in a world that didn't understand disease came to mind today, as I was considering what to write on for this week's blog. 

I am not a doctor or medical professional, but everyone who reads this blog has been touched in some way by COVID-19. Whether you are currently living under a lock-down due to this virus, or practicing social-distancing, every single one of us is in new territory for which none of us could imagine two months ago. So tonight, I cracked open my Oxford Classical Dictionary and turned to the topic of disease, thinking it would be most appropriate to learn a little about what the ancient world regarded as pestilence. 

First of all, disease was the number-one killer of people two-thousand years ago. According to writings from Galen, two in particular took a heavy toll: malaria and tuberculosis. Even in ancient times, physicians were able to identify three separate types of malaria, caused by mosquitoes. But the common symptom of all three were high fevers every two to three days, and these usually presented in either summer or fall. People of all ages were succeptable, and surprisingly, Malaria could be common in regions without marshes or wetlands. That being said, there are some scholars convinced that it was this mosquito-borne illness that may have led to the demise of the Etruscan civilization in Italy. Another killer in antiquity was tuberculosis, which mostly struck at young adults, especially in crowded city-centers. Physicians of the day believed it to be fatal, and most of the time, it probably was.

Though ancient sources don't offer much information on childhood diseases, many illnesses were were common ones for which most people are innoculated against today: diphtheria, chickenpox, mumps, and whooping cough. That being said, childhood anemia, iron-deficiencies, and other malnutrition ailments were common and have shown up in skeletal remains. Some archaeological digs have even yielded evidence of cancers, and Galen specifically mentions in his writings that breast cancer was especially prevalent. 

Having read all this tonight, I was reminded that even now, in an age of high technology and information overloads, we can still live in uncertain times, as did our ancestors. Each of us, in retrospection, probably never could have guessed that we'd be dealing with a pandemic at our doorsteps. I'd like to wish all of my readers a bill of clean health as I write this. Whether you're in lock-down, quarantine, or may be struggling with the Coronavirus itself, please know that you and your families are in my thoughts and prayers. 

In the meantime, wash your hands, boil some water, enjoy a cup of tea, choose a good book, and READ ON!

Marcus rubbed sleep from his eyes, considering. Why would Decimus Brutus be intervening to get Caesar to the Senate? That sounded suspicious.
Hackles raised, he threw the coverlet off.
“What day is it?” mumbled Fulvia, stretching and turning over.
“The ides of Martius,” Marcus replied, yawning. “Eros, get my toga. It seems I must look like a consul today after all.”

In Roman times, the calendar often had several terms signifying a particular date. The 15th of March, May, July, or October was considered the “ides”. All other months had an “ides”, as well; theirs landing on the 13th day of the month.

During Gaius Julius Caesar’s dictatorship, the ides in the month of March was to change Roman history permanently. In fact, it was a date so ingrained in the history of western civilization, that the Ides of March connotes a day of infamy—of bad luck. Each March 15th in Rome, actors descend upon the area where Caesar was killed to “replay” the deed. And then, people with a real fascination for Caesar’s history still deposit roses on the very place his body was cremated—within the ruined remains of the Temple of Caesar. (see photo at left)

If Caesar is so well-remembered today, then when why was he killed in the first place?

In 44 BC, Caesar had been granted the title of “Dictator for life”. This was a pretty big deal. Ever since Rome had first become a Republic, the mere thought of single-man rule was abhorrent—in fact traitorous. When the Senate allowed Caesar this honor, it was beyond anything that had been done before. Caesar was given a political permanence that no other dictator had been granted. However, one must remember that he won that permanence by military force. Once his final rival, Pompeius Magnus was dead, Caesar had full control over Rome.
​
Compared to his predecessors, Julius Caesar held a more worldly, global-based view of the Roman world. The exclusivity of Roman citizenship was now available for Gallic people and people in the east. But Caesar took it a step more, granting senatorial status to Gallic-born men. For hard-core Romans like Brutus, Cassius, and others, this was like swallowing poison. And Caesar had pretty much claimed divine roots by this time, too. He had always boasted that his family was descended from the goddess Venus Genetrix (Venus of the family—meaning his) and shortly before his death, he had a temple completed and consecrated in Rome, dedicated to her. But the juiciest tidbit about that, which turned into a raging scandal, was that the cult-statue inside the temple had a high-profile model—Cleopatra of Egypt, Caesar’s mistress!  Ruins of this very temple can still be seen today in the Forum. (see below left)

Good ol’ down-home, strait-laced Roman senators just couldn’t take any more.

A group of them, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus began to plan an assassination. On the day they chose to strike, it was assumed that Caesar would actually be appointed “king” over all Roman possessions, only excluding Rome itself. That fateful day?

The Ides of March.

Though Caesar was stabbed twenty-three times, it’s estimated that as many as sixty men were in on the plot. One man, Decimus Brutus (no big relation of Marcus Brutus, by the way) was actually a beneficiary in Caesar’s will! There’s some argument of whether or not Marcus Antonius (Marc Antony) was involved. However, Antonius was well-known as Caesar’s “right-hand man” by that time and he was also known for his loyalty to friends and family. 

So what exactly happened on the Ides?

Strangely enough, Caesar nearly missed his own assassination! Romans were a very superstitious people, and because of some dark portent, Calpurnia’s nightmare, or perhaps a real warning, he opted NOT to go—at first. However, the senator Decimus Brutus may have been the one to intervene and convince Caesar to attend.

Antonius was usually at Caesar’s side. Because of his physical size and reputation as a fine soldier, the assassins came up with a plan to separate Antonius from Caesar. As soon as Caesar and Antonius entered the Theater of Pompeius’s curia (where the Senate was meeting at the time), a friend of Antonius insisted he speak with him. This “friend” was Gaius Trebonius, a military colleague of Antonius. Both had fought for Caesar during the Gallic Wars at the final, bloody siege at Alesia. The two had shared a tent and as soldiers often do, had formed a close bond. Little did Antonius know that Trebonius was no longer his friend!

Once Caesar had taken his place in the Senate, “deliberations” of a sort began, with some petitions. Servilius Casca was the first to strike a blow and Caesar—always a fighter, even in encroaching age and illness—fought him off with a writing utensil known as a stylus. Ah, the power of the pen!

Sadly for Caesar, the pen didn’t save him. It’s generally accepted that Marcus Brutus was the last man to stab the dictator. Brutus probably did have a lot of conflicted feelings. His mother had been Caesar’s mistress, he had also served Caesar in Gaul, and had even been pardoned by him after the civil war with Pompeius.
​
Regardless of whether Brutus’s jab finished the job, Caesar died shortly thereafter of multiple stab-wounds. Later, Brutus had a coin issued, commemorating his participation in the deed. (see below) One side of it features two daggers surrounding a cap. This was the type of cap that freed slaves often wore upon their liberation.

Thus, all of the conspirators, who at this point termed themselves as “liberators” fled to the Temple of Jupiter. It was located on the highest hill in Rome—the Capitoline—not an easy place to approach from a military standpoint. History tells us that Antonius was pretty slick during the days that followed. He walked the fine political line between civil unrest (again!) and keeping the peace, doing an admirable, if not wily job of it. And he gave his stellar funeral oration that not only stirred the plebians into a frenzy by cremating Caesar themselves, but spooked Brutus and Cassius all the way to Greece!

At this, the plebs became frenzied, chanting oaths to Caesar’s shade, jumping up and down in unison and lifting hands or balling fists in emotion. Their fervor encouraged Marcus, and in a daring move, he kicked the lid off of the basket at his feet. Inside was Caesar’s bloodied toga, and he whipped it out to thousands of gasps. One of his lictors stepped forward on cue, and Marcus took up his fasces, draping the stained garment over the axe. He lifted it high, striding back and forth across the Rostra, displaying it like a banner.
​
                                                    Italicized samples are from Brook Allen's newest novel, Antonius: Second in Command 

 If you fought in a Roman legion, what protected you? 

It was called a scutum in Latin. Early ones in the regnal period up until the early Republic were known as the clipeus and were round. Sometime in the 4th century BC, an oval, oblong-shaped shield was developed and that became the first scutum. By the 1st century AD or even the late Republic, these shields took on the shape that most "HollyRome" movies portray--curved and rectangular. That being said, cavalrymen like my protagonist, Marcus Antonius in Antonius: Son of Rome, would have wielded lighter, circular shields, known as the parma.

Scuta were made of layers of wood that were carefully glued. The wood was then covered with leather and topped with canvas which was brightly painted. We know this, since a phenomenal artifact was found intact in Syria, known as the Dura Scutum. (see photo at upper right) Looking at the photo, it's easy to see where the metal boss would have been--in the dead center. Bosses were probably made of either iron or bronze and were especially useful when the scutum was used as an offensive weapon. Each shield had a light, smoothly sanded wooden grip behind the boss and legionaries sometimes used sheepskin to further protect their hands during combat. Stats for the Dura Europos scutum ​were 41.5 inches long, 16 inches wide, and about a foot deep, in the curvature. And how much did this extremely necessary piece of equipment weigh? It was surprisingly light for its size: about twenty-two pounds. And it's jaw-droppingly beautiful! Shields decorated like this must have been an impressive sight, with thousands of men marching with them.

So what else protected you, besides your shield, armor, helmet, gladius, and pilum? 

Numbers protected you! The movie Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe very accurately showed the necessity of legionaries depending on one another for maneuvers, protection, and morale. In one of the more memorable scenes, supposedly in the Roman Colosseum, Maximus shouts to his men, "As one!" Indeed, that's how a legion fought: AS ONE--and I'd bet my life that the best soldiers in today's modern age are trained to rely on one another, too. Scuta could be used either as a defensive or offensive weapon. In a scene from Antonius: Second in Command, Marcus uses his parma shield offensively:
 
"As he cantered past a thicket, focusing on what was happening ahead of him, his horse shied at the sound of snapping branches He could barely think before two Britons on foot erupted out of the dense green foliage. Spooked and panicked, Marcus's horse squealed and feinted sideways, nearly pitching him into one of his enemy's arms. Legs burning, he clamped his calves around his frightened animal to stay on. His right hand frantically grasped his horse's mane in an attempt to right himself. Simultaneously, his left arm pummeled his shield hard atop one of the Britons' heads, and the man's skull crunched..."
                                                                   from Antonius: Second in Command by Brook Allen

At other times, generals like Marcus Antonius used a widely known maneuver called the testudo (tortoise formation). In my upcoming book Antonius: Legend, this formation is a tactic used against the Parthians and Marcus's men would have died without it. "As one" again, legionaries would create a tortoise-shell out of their scuta; those in front and on the ends of their unit forming a shield wall. Men inside the formation lifted their scuta above their heads. There were times in Parthia when Antonius's men literally marched like this all day long. Ugh! But it saved lives (and probably built biceps, too!). At other times, during stationary combat, men in front would actually kneel.

Since I'm an author and words fascinate me, I thought I'd share one last fun fact. Years ago, I worked as a naturalist in Everglades National Park. I was around alligators all day long and the wildlife there fascinated me. Coincidenatlly, the boney ridges along the backs of alligators and crocodiles  are called "scutes". It wasn't until I starte studying Roman History in depth that I realized from where this word was derived. 

Read on, wash your hands, and if you have ideas for my blogs, let me know! I love hearing from you. 

The re-enactor's shield below shows a scutum complete with its boss. How would you like that ​mercilessly shoved in your face? 

While learning my way on Twitter, one person has been truly indispensable in assisting and orienting me. That individual is Australian author, Emma Lombard. And she does this for anyone who needs help! Emma is professional and resourceful. In crafting her characters for her book, she even hired an artist to visually "create them" (see bottom picture)! 

Before becoming a historical fiction author, Emma Lombard was an editor in the corporate world across various industries—aviation, aquatic ecology, education and the world of academia. Her blog series Twitter Tips for Newbies is popular in Twitter's #WritingCommunity for helping writers navigate the platform and find their voices on social media. She is the author of the upcoming historical adventure, Discerning Grace. 

​I'd like to introduce author Emma Lombard and allow her to share more about her work as a writer.​

Where the Idea Came From 
The idea for Discerning Grace came about when my grandmother wrote and told me (many moons ago) that my 3x great grandmother eloped with an English sea captain. All it took was for me to read the opening to one of her letters and I just knew I had to write a story about it! This is what the letter said, ‘Your GGG grandmother was only 16 when she ran away from home to marry a sea captain … her family cut her off and she sailed the seas with him …’
 
Armed with the knowledge my grandmother gave me of my GGG grandmother’s character, I had a great foundation upon which to build my fictional tale. I’ve been thrilled by the journey of writing it and all the research too, but most of all, I’ve loved imagining the incredible courage and fortitude it would have taken my ancestor to choose such a life! Plus, there is my GGG grandfather’s side of the tale to consider too. As my grandmother put it, they were ‘obviously a very enlightened couple, and she a very, very liberated woman.’
 
While the foundation for my novel comes from a piece of ancestral gossip, I have been very mindful not to encroach on my ancestor's lives and so my story is a purely fictional, historical naval adventure—with a dash of romance.
 
Writing a Female Protagonist in a Patriarchal Society
 
My research highlighted just how few naval adventures are authored by women and have a female protagonist. There is also so much in the history books about men at sea but comparatively little about women. Certainly, history shows us that women went to sea, whether with permission or not—as passengers or wives, but there are fewer records of what life was like at sea for these women.
 
Thankfully, I found some incredible resources that are a treasure trove of an insight into the lives of many women at sea, drawn from newspaper articles, diaries and historical records. The personalised accounts from the women’s diaries gives so much more depth and emotion, outlining their hopes and fears as well as lamenting the loss of luxuries and comfort, than say a ship’s books recorded by a male clerk, which while brimming with factual information, is devoid of that personal touch.
 
Any doubt I had about my characters being too modern and breaching the class or gender expectations of the time was securely put to bed by Elizabeth Gaskell’s series North and South. Here is a female author who published her works in 1854 with a recurring theme of complex social conflicts, including an entitled female protagonist who befriends working-class characters. As can be expected, Gaskell’s work received scathing critical reception for going against the prevailing views of the time but it is a great source for me, as a modern author, to know that these thoughts existed back then and has enabled me to confidently craft some unconventional relationships between my characters.
 
Research Gives a Flavour of the Times
 
I had to do a lot of research about living aboard a naval vessel in the 19th century. The irony is, I can't even step foot on a ship because I get terribly sea sick! However, I’ve managed to explore a few ship museums around the world, which has been fabulous to immerse myself in shipboard life, even if they aren’t quite of the era I was writing.
 
While most Royal Navy captains commanded their ships under the governance of the Articles of War, there are plenty of tales of wayward captains who either abused the punishments or were indifferent to complying with the regulations. Let’s face it, once out on the open ocean for years at a time, a ship was the captain’s kingdom to command as he pleased. My research gave me a flavour of the dress, etiquette, food and expectations of shipboard life, which helped me thread this authenticity into my works.
 
Interestingly enough, there were several scenes that I wrote based on factual events or characters that today’s modern audience (aka my beta readers and my editor) found implausible. So, I had to find that sweet spot between toning down some of the more colourful events and keeping the plot going, while still maintaining the historical flavour.
 
I also unearthed how much of an influence popular culture has on historical events that have been inaccurately portrayed over the years either through fictionalisation or screen adaptation. As a historical fiction writer, you want to ensure you get the facts straight but sometimes there comes a point in your story where creative licence kicks in and certain events have to go a certain way to keep your readers engaged and entertained.
 
My Inspiration
 
I’ve drawn inspiration from Wilbur Smith’s galloping historical adventures that don’t shy away from sweeping the globe and diving into other cultures. Diana Gabaldon’s epic historical tomes are a brilliant source for learning how to use all your senses as a writer to build the old world. I have created a naval adventure that I hope will appeal to a wider audience as it is not overly bogged down with the technicalities of sailing or navigation found in a lot of naval fiction. It instead focuses more on the dynamics of relationships between rank and class, and on breaking down social and gender stereotypes of the day.
 
Many changes in history come about as a result of pioneering individuals and I hope to have captured this spirit in my characters. And let’s not forget, it’s also a rollicking adventure!

A Taste of My Resources
 
Nautical Sources
 
Naval:

• Royal Museums Greenwich: for all things British Royal Navy

 

• Historic Naval Fiction: all aspects of naval fiction, including links to great fiction and non-fiction resources

 
Women’s Point-of-view At Sea:

• Seafaring Women by renowned historian, Linda Grant De Pauw

 

• Female Tars by Suzanne J. Stark

 

• Hen Frigates by maritime historian, Joan Durett

 

• She Captains by maritime historian, Joan Durett

 
Great Storm Descriptions:

• Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

 
Digitalised Newspapers

• Trove: Australian digitalised newspapers

 

• Newspaper Archive: US digitalised newspapers

 
Language

• Google Ngram Viewer: shows when a word or phrase was used throughout the history of written records

 

• Etymology Online: a history of words and their origins, and when they were first recorded in writing

 

• Deviant Art: Victorian-style Insults Generator (SO much fun!)

 
Victorian Times

• The Victorian Dictionary: a treasure trove of Victorian resources compiled by historical fiction author, Lee Jackson

 

• The Victorian Web: literature, history & culture in the age of Victoria

 

• Rootsweb: an absolute rabbit hole of ancestral history and stories

 
Maps

• David Rumsey Map Collection: digitalised, rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania

 
Ship’s Museums I’ve Visited

• Polly Woodside

 

• Royal Yacht Britannia

 

• The Notorious

Here are some easy ways to connect with Emma on her webpage and social media sites: 
Website: emmalombardauthor.com
Twitter: @LombardEmma
Facebook: @EmmaLombardAuthor
​

Picture this: You are a Roman legionary in attack-mode. You are in the middle of a formation, approaching the enemy. You have a large shield in your left hand, your gladius still sheathed on your right side. But how is your unit going to illicit fear into the enemy army? And WHAT are you holding in your right hand, if not your sword?

You are holding a pilum (pl. pila)--the Roman version of the javelin. And you have a second one in reserve.

Pila were typically used in the first phase of combat, when a legion was approaching and getting into range of their enemy. Until the very end of the Republic, this long spear came in two varieties: a light and heavier version (graphic at left shows both, as well as what is probably the later Republican model in the middle.). Both were weighted and had barbed tips which were either extremely difficult or impossible for an enemy soldier to remove from his shield. And when this weapon was discharged, legionaries actually used a small leather sling device, giving it a rifle-like launch--affording more impetus than just a muscled arm! These things had a range of nearly 100 ft. and if you were on the receiving end of a pilum throw, you were probably killed quickly if hit. A solid strike was powerful enough to pierce through armor or chain mail. But fending one off with your shield was awful too, since the point's barb insured that it wouldn't come out. You'd be lugging around a shield WITH a long, cumbersome pilum sticking in it! The effect of hundreds of these things being launched all at once against an opposing army must have been terrifying. 

Now, you're back to being a Roman legionary again. As you draw your gladius and near your first opponent, he has someone's pilum jutting out of his shield. For you, this is easy. Since he has no way of removing it, you can use your shield to hit it hard, briefly jerking his shield away long enough to gut him with your sword. Or, if it's low enough on his shield, you just step on the pilum's shaft to get the same result. 

By the 1st century BC, the pilum had been used long enough for enemy soldiers to devise ways of re-using them. Either after a battle, or even in a different phase of a battle, they'd jerk them out of their unfortunate comrades bodies and shields, hurling them right back against the Romans. Obviously, this didn't sit well with Roman generals.

Gaius Marius, a wily legate toward the end of the Roman Republic, improved the pilum so it would wind up useless in the hands of the enemy, regardless of how it wound up--stuck in a corpse or a shield. He removed one of the wooden pegs that attached the shaft to the weapon's iron business end. When the spear struck a target, the remaining peg broke, rendering the weapon useless in enemy hands. That being said, it may not have been as useful a tool for legionaries wanting it for leverage in taking down a foe, since it broke apart. So by Marc Antony's day, yet another improvement had been made. The iron shank was made to be narrower to a fault, and no longer even had as prominant a barb on the end. They were weakened on purpose so that they would still stick in an enemy's shield, but the pilum's iron end would bend and become useless. 

The Legio XX Online Handbook (https://www.larp.com/legioxx/pilum.html) offers a close look at the pilum, as well as other javelin/spear-type weaponry used by the Romans. It's also loaded with great photos, to give you an idea of what the various period pila looked like.

In the second week in March, one of my readers has requested that I share more about the scutum--the Roman military shield. Feel free to throw me ideas if you'd like to know more about particular subjects that I cover or mention in the Antonius Trilogy! 

Next week's blog will be a special treat! Australian author, Emma Lombard will be sharing more about her upcoming book, based on one of her own ancestors! 

​So, until then, READ ON!

              An example of a pilum shaft that was actually used in combat--bent at impact. This would have been the                        type of javelin used in Marc Antony's day. For my Biblical scholar friends out there, it was also probably the type                           of weapon used to pierce Jesus's side and on which the sponge soaked in wine was placed.