Trial and Tribulation: a Lucius Sestius short story
Lucius stood in the middle of his father’s study and lifted his chin. “Too high,” said Cicero. “You mustn’t look defiant or arrogant, especially not at your age. A little lower – yes! That’s right.” Lucius tried to memorise his exact stance, though he did wish his new toga wouldn’t keep sliding off his shoulder. […]
Don’t eat the figs
I had prepared for this moment and in my head was a list of the things I must now do. I rose with the first, carefully-thought-out speech, on my lips – “May the gods receive my husband the Emperor Augustus into the place they have surely prepared for him” – when I realised that Ceryllus had actually said the wrong name.
Triumphs and Tragedies
“Triumphs and Tragedies” is an anthology of short stories on a Roman theme. Authors like Derek Birks and Peter Tonkin have contributed, and it includes my own Lucius Sestius story, “Blood Money”, and is on the Kindle Unlimited scheme.
Calpurnia waits – a short story
I am a widow, but I still must wait a few more days.
Fowl Play
I woke up one morning with an idea for a short story. I drafted it out, and thought it would work, but I needed to check one thing. Did human flesh keep an impression of something that hit it?
PHILIPPI
Now that I’ve done the – 9th? 10th? – revision of the third novel in my Lucius Sestius trilogy, I am beginning to feel quite strongly about what my hero went through. Not what I have put him through – that is justifiable for the novelist! But the real Lucius Sestius Quirinalis went through enough […]
Roman names
I have a problem; Roman names . . .
The pearls of Pliny the Elder
My goodness, Pliny the Elder did not like pearls. Or seafood.
“Luxurious living and the corruption of morals arises mostly from shellfish.” (Book 9. 104)
Straight from telling us about crabs running backwards and changing into scorpions, Pliny gets right down to the nitty-gritty (oyster and pearl joke there), and goes on:
“Out of the whole of the natural world, the sea causes most harm to our stomachs.”
The real Lucius Sestius
I came across the Sestius family when I read Cicero’s speech defending Publius Sestius on charges of political violence. In the middle of the speech, delivered in 56 BCE, Cicero points out that the teenage son of the defendant, the defendant’s daughter and even his aged father-in-law are there in court. Roman lawyers would use […]
The Coin
This arose out of another Qatar National Library Writing Circle challenge: to write a story about an object. For a long time, I have wanted to write about the silver denarius minted by Lucius Sestius Quirinalis in Asia, and last year we were fortunate enough to track down a beautiful example of this coin. Minted […]
