Ben Kane

I just love the way archaeology can tell us new things. A huge find in York, of more than 80 skeletons, has brought to light evidence of a man who was killed by a large cat. Many of the men also had longer right arms than left, proof that they entered gladiatorial training in their early teens. Take that, the people who emailed me to say that Romulus was too young to be sold into a ludus! I had some proof before hand, but this makes it concrete. Read a great article in the Independent about it here. Watch a documentary about it on Channel 4 on the 14th of June too.

Unfortunately, the York Roman Festival was not blessed with good weather. Still, a good time was had by all, thanks to the sterling efforts of Keith Mulhearn of Complete York. If you’re visiting the city, check out the amazing central location it was held in: Grays’ Court. A great place for a meal, and shortly to be a hotel, I believe.

It was back to work straight after the Bank Holiday, and now I find myself at the end of a pruning edit of Soldier of Carthage, largely thanks to the critique of my old friend Arthur O’Connor, the only non-publishing person I know with a mind like an editor. Cheers to him for having me up at nearly midnight! Still, the manuscript is a much improved beast now, so fair dues. I’ll finish the last ten pages in the morning, and then print the lot off to read it AGAIN. All being well, I’ll email it to my editor next Monday. Then it’s fingers crossed until I hear from her…

I spent the weekend at Dorchester Roman Festival, which was bathed in glorious sunshine the whole time. What a difference it makes! Thanks to Sarah Harbige, of Dorset Area of Outstanding Beauty, who organised it all into such a top class event. I met up with some of Legio II Augusta, who put on some great displays of Roman legionaries and gladiators. Did a couple of talks, sold a few books, met some interesting people and generally had a good time. I wish there were more Roman events on year round! This coming weekend, I have nothing to complain about, though, as I’ll be at the York Roman Festival, which is organised and run by the excellent Keith Mulhearn. Hope to see you there!

Well, I’ve finally reached the stage of editing Soldier of Carthage, which is a time I really enjoy: tinkering with scenes and characters’ thoughts, all (I hope!) to make the book better. I’ll post up a section soon, and you can comment on it if you wish.

The Silver Eagle has been selling very well in paperback. My publishers tell me that it reached no. 28 in the bestseller lists last week. Hurrah!

Looking forward to this weekend at Dorchester too, hoping the weather will stay nice. Maybe an offering to the gods will help…

Well, it was a typical Bank Holiday here in the UK: after lots of sun over the previous two weeks, it duly got cloudy on Thursday. The rain followed, and most of the weekend was damp and cold. (It’s the same, or worse, in Ireland of course.) I spent the Saturday and Sunday at the wonderful Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester in Sussex, on the south coast. The Ermine Street Guard were in attendance, and however cold I felt, they must have been worse. As always, though, they were fantastic. And besides all the damp, I had a great time, met some very interesting people, and sold some books. My grateful thanks go to Phil Davies, Christine, the site manager, and all the staff who looked after me so well. I’m now looking forward to the Roman weekend in Dorchester, Dorset, on May 22nd-23rd, and hoping that the weather there will be better!

Apparently, King Tut may have worn specially made orthopaedic shoes to help correct the physical deformities he was born with. Read an interesting article about it here.