Random House, my publishers, have kindly laid on a competition to win a trip for two to Rome. I should have blogged about it sooner, but anyway. To enter, just click here. (You do have to be a resident of the UK or Ireland to enter.) Good luck!!
Competition winners
Congratulations to the 6 lucky winners of the recent competition. I’ve never had so many entries (about 400) nor had winners from so many countries: the UK, Canada, the USA, India and Holland. Well done to Phil Reilly, Thomas Lobo, berks2000, Tyler Peterson @popeyeIan Stefan Berlijn !
And in other news, it’s only 4 days until Spartacus: Rebellion is released. I cannot wait!
Competition time again!
It’s just over two weeks until Spartacus: Rebellion is launched here in the UK! To celebrate, I am giving away signed copies of 4 large format paperback, and 2 hardbacks. In addition, the first four winners will also receive a tiny replica bronze gladius, an item which was worn around the neck as a charm. Examples have been found all over the Roman Empire.
Just answer me this: Where was Spartacus reputedly from?
One entry per person please, either here, on Twitter, FB or by email. Competition closes around midday UK time on the 7th of August.
Why has Spartacus’ fame endured?
Other than Julius Caesar and Hannibal, there are few names from ancient history as recognisable as Spartacus. Pretty much everyone has heard of him. At first glance, this seems unsurprising. His achievements were remarkable. Having been sold into slavery, he escaped with some seventy others from a gladiator training school in Capua, Italy. Through a combination of ingenuity and pure luck the group soon put to flight not only the first motley Roman force sent against them, but also the second. This, a unit of three thousand men, were not crack troops, but the fact is that they outnumbered the gladiators by more than forty to one. Unassailable superiority, one would have thought, but incredibly, the gladiators prevailed. [Read more…] about Why has Spartacus’ fame endured?
Roman news
Great news from the island of Jersey, where a couple of amateurs recently found an enormous haul of Roman and Celtic coins. More about it here. I went to Italy about 2 weeks ago to film some short documentary style pieces about Spartacus (more of those as soon as we can get them edited). I also went to the reenactment of one of Hannibal’s most famous victories, at Lake Trasimene. Blue skies, brilliant sun, loads of Spanish and Italian reenactors – it was brilliant. Some photos of the event here.
Research for writing historical fiction
Research is an intimate part of writing historical fiction. It’s the foundation upon which each good story rests, and as such, it needs to be robust and well-laid. In my opinion, without a good basis in reality or fact, historical fiction becomes either historical fantasy or alternate history. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with those genres ― I’m fond of them myself, especially the latter ― but they fall into a different classification to the books I write.
Research can take many forms, but the methods that I find most useful are reading textbooks, studying the information on relevant websites, visiting museums and/or historical sites, and attending re-enactment events, where I can soak up the atmosphere and talk to the men and women who work so hard at helping us to understand how life was thousands of years ago. I like to buy small items that have been made as they were long ago. The bookshelf over my desk has a whistle, a bone hairpin, a little oil lamp, a brass whistle, a blue glass and other Roman trinkets on it. [Read more…] about Research for writing historical fiction