Right to Rome

I've been reading this, something of a ripping yarn. I'm amused by the Amazon reviewer who's taken the time to slag it, especially in pointing out the inaccuracies.

It's fiction! And I love the idea that he feels qualified to criticise someone else's view of what might have happened 2000 years ago. It's f-i-c-t-i-o-n. There's even an Author's Note at the back in which he fully admits the liberties he's taken for dramatic effect.

Makes a change, for me, from reading thrillers or SF. I always used to enjoy Rosemary Sutcliffe, and the Eagle of the Ninth is a cracking mystery story.

This is yet another of the books I've got for free through Kellogg's cereals, and on the whole I think we've done quite well out of it. I've discovered at least a couple of people I'd like to read more of, which is reassuring. Because you go through these periods of thinking there will never be anything new you'd want to read.

Babette hates anything to do with Romans; but I think the point is, you're supposed to hate them. Michel Serres blames the violence and oppression in the world on the Romans, because Rome was repeatedly founded on murder and oppression. And for Serres, we never leave the past behind but carry it around with us. Not so much condemned to repeat it, but helplessly living it out.