Ben Kane

I’m proudly able to announce that The Road to Rome has reached the Sunday Times Top Ten in its first part week of publication! From Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th August, it sold over 3,500 copies, allowing it to storm up to number 4! Hurrah! Thanks to all the Roman gods, and to every one at Random House, who have worked so hard to help this happen. Most of all, thanks to you, my cool readers who have gone out and stumped up the cash for a copy of The Road to Rome. I’ve hardly stopped grinning since I heard the news yesterday.

While hoping that The Road to Rome is soaring up the charts since its release on Thursday, I have been reading a wonderful Roman fiction novel recommended to me by a member of staff in my local Waterstone’s. It’s called The Boat of Fate and was written by a man called Keith Roberts. Set at the time of the decline of the western Roman Empire, it’s about a troubled young Iberian Roman called Sergius Paullus, and details his life from his youth in Iberia to his time as an apprentice in Rome, a military officer in Gaul, and then his role in the final struggle in Britain after the legions left in AD 410. It’s a wonderful read, and I urge you to get a copy if you can. I would rate in the top five of all Roman novels I’ve read.

I caught the tail end of a programme on BBC4 the other night, about 3 Australian brothers cycling Hannibal’s route from Iberia to Italy. Given that I’m writing a book about that exact thing, I was quite interested. You could have bowled me over with a feather when Danny, one of the Aussies, contacted me about their amazing endeavours. Catch Danny’s blog, and the first four parts of the programme on BBC i-player here.

I’m writing this in the middle of the night – it’s one of those not able to sleep ones, thanks to a troublesome hamstring, and the vestiges of the hangover I have from attending the launch party of Harry Sidebottom’s latest book, Lion of the Sun. (Which, incidentally, is a cracking read. Get out there and buy it!) I have all the names on little bits of paper, ready to pick, but I’ve remembered that my wife wants to do the honours, so you’ll have to wait until a more sociable hour to find out who won! Watch this space…

RIGHT, FINALLY GOT IT DONE! The first person’s name out of the bag was Chantal Sukel, of New York state in the USA. The second was John Powell, of Dublin, in Ireland. Congratulations to you both. Chantal wins the denarius and a signed copy of The Road to Rome, and John wins a copy of the book too. Oh yes, the answer to the question! Caesar’s Fifth Legion, which fought so bravely at Thapsus, was often known as ‘Quinta Alaudae’ or the Fifth Larks. They were also sometimes known as Quinta Gallica. More than a hundred of you gave one or other, or both, correct answers. Commiserations, and good luck next year. I’ll do my best to have a Carthaginian coin as a prize then, if they’re not extortionately expensive to buy.

Many of you may already have heard the news about the recent find of no less than 52,000 Roman coins in Somerset (and only about 12 miles/20 km from where I live!). The hoard, the biggest ever found in one place in Britain, has been dated to the 3rd Century AD, and contains many rare coins of the Emperor Carausius. Read about it here. It makes my offer of one paltry denarius in my competition look irrelevant!

It’s that time of year again!

I’ve got two signed hardback first edition copies of my upcoming book, The Road to Rome, on offer. The first lucky person whose name comes out of the hat will also receive a real silver denarius which dates from about 90 BC, and which therefore would have been in use at the time of my books. It’s worth a decent sum, and I thought it would add to the prize. The second person just gets the book, but as both copies will be among the 15 copies I stamp as well as sign, they’ll be getting a decent prize too.

Please answer the following question by email to me at ben@benkane.net – no later than midnight (UK time) on the 22nd July. Good luck!

What was the nickname (in English or otherwise) of Caesar’s famous Fifth Legion, which fought heroically at Thapsus?