In the sewer
I have started to think about what a reader might like to known about the world in which Lucius lived, material which one can’t necessarily shoe-horn into a novel, and on asking around, the most popular answers were to do with food and waste disposal. Fortunately, there is a magnificent sewer being excavated in Herculaneum […]
Dawn’s page
This is the result of a suggestion of a friend who told me that I needed to give a short explanation of the historical setting; after all, Lucius Sestius lived about halfway through a more-than-thousand year story. But I am to keep it to no more than a page…! So here is “A Very Short […]
The fasces
One of the strangest symbols of power, and one of the longest-lasting – who would have thought that a bundle of rods with an axe would give rise to one of the most feared words of the twentieth century? Every Roman magistrate of the Republic who was allowed to wield imperium – official authority – […]
Plague and pestilence
While researching the historical events of the year of Lucius Sestius’ consulship, 23 BCE, I found the historian Cassius Dio very informative. In Book 53 of his Histories, he tells us that this year and the next were not good for people’s health, and certainly we know of two famous people who fell seriously ill […]
Roman names
Hold onto your hats, especially if you are female… By Lucius Sestius Quirinalis’ time, most Roman male citizens had three names- the praenomen – Lucius the nomen – Sestius the cognomen – Quirinalis Unless, of course he had only two, such as Gaius Maecenas…. The praenomen This was the name chosen for a baby boy […]
Winning poem
I am absolutely thrilled that I have won the English section of the Nartha poetry competition here in Qatar. The competition was run by the Qatar Poetry Centre, along with the British Council. See this post on Instagram and Twitter The Flame Inside Beyond the window let unsureness run. The glossy bird hops up to […]
The bronze edict of El Bierzo
This bronze tablet discovered “unofficially” around 1999 actually mentions Lucius Sestius Quirinalis, using his full name, as having been a legatus in Spain – that is, governing a province on behalf of Augustus. Interestingly the province is named as Transduriana, which I had never heard of, and to judge by the cautious comments I have […]
