Need Some Roman Research Help!

Guys,

I'm doing some historical research for the second book in my "Soldier of Rome" series, and am at a bit of a stumbling block. My first book, "Soldier of Rome: The Legionary" (coming this winter from iUniverse) was fairly easy to research. It takes place between 15-17 A.D. and covers the campaigns of Germanicus Caesar and his wars against Arminius in Germania. These campaigns are detailed in depth in the Annals of Tacitus, which was my primary source.

Since I pride myself in making certain that my books, though historical fiction, do not deviate from historical fact, I try and do as much research as possible. I've hit a snag when trying to do research for my second book, which starts in the year A.D 20, just prior to the Gallic revolt under Julius Sacrovir and Julius Florus (FYI: Soldier of Rome follows the career of a Roman Legionary, kind of in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower followed the career of a British Naval Officer). I used Tacitus again to provide me with the most historical research, however I find myself having to use what I think is an excessive amount of literary license on this one.

Thing is, the revolt under Sacrovir and Florus was not on nearly the same scale as that of the wars against Arminius. And since I intend to keep my books as historically "pure" as possible, I'm not about to invent entire wars that just did not happen. With that in mind, Books Two and Three of the Soldier of Rome series are going to be the most difficult for me to research. Together they take place between the years 20-28 A.D. in Germania, where our hero is a Legionary serving with the Twentieth Legion. Does anybody know of any valid historical sources that would be of use for this time period? Thanks!

Thanks for the Feedback!

Thanks guys, I do appreciate the feedback! Oh, and Gabriele, sorry about hijacking your Germanicus/Arminius idea! As for campaigns/plots, I'm using the Gallic revolt under Sacrovir and Florus for the plot to Book Two (which ironically is called "Soldier of Rome: The Sacrovir Revolt"), and I'm PROBABLY going to use the Frisian revolt for part of the campaign plot in Book Three. Thing is, I almost feel like books Two and Three are almost "filler" before I get to Book Four, which is where things pick up again historically. However, I do not want "filler" books, but rather books that can stand in their own right.

I have to say that since posting this, I have gotten past a large portion of my writer's block and have been on a role with The Sacrovir Revolt. Currently I'm sitting at about 36,000 words, which isn't a bad start (my final version of The Legionary was about 123,000). I like Gabriele's ideas for "special assignments" to Rome. Hope I don't hijack any more of your ideas!

Thanks again!

Artorius vs. The Celts

Medievalist, don't worry, Artorius will take on the Celts in Britain in due time! Remember though, The Legionary takes place from 15-17 A.D., and the invasion of Britain didn't take place until 41 or 43 A.D. (can't remember which). But yes, I do have plans for that. I have plot points and reasons for keeping him in Germania through Book Three. Without giving away everything, suffice it to say that Book Four takes place in Judea, and Book Five in Britain.

Gabriele said:

What if you combine book 2 and 3 ?

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I've thought about it, but the timeframe is just too long for one book. Also, I tried reading one of Scarrow's books and just could not get into it. The dialect and the way it was written just did not strike me as believable. To be honest, one turn off for me was reading that the Centurion was illiterate. Sorry, but I seriously doubt that an illiterate Soldier would have ever made it past Legionary if he couldn't read. I don't know, maybe I just didn't give them a fair chance.

As for having "the few do the work of the many," I'm kind of working that into the stories as well. I read that it was not unheard of for individual cohorts to be temporarily stationed away from the Legion and acting independantly. As for research into the machinations of the Roman Army, I found The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy to be the best single book out there. My Dad sent it to me when I was in Iraq, and it was (and still is) an excellent source for my works.

It wasn't only the illiterate Centurion which grated on me in Scarrow's books, but the way they talked to each other. I wonder if Scarrow has ever served in the military, because the sequence where the Centurion Primus Pilus is railing the recruits felt forced and just not believable. Honestly I pictured a cheesy version of the Drill Instructor from Full Metal Jacket in a Roman costume.

The series that I actually managed to make it through a couple books, because they were actually entertaining, was the "Emperor" series. But then again, while entertaining, the historical aspect was appauling (and these are books that I see all the time on the shelves at Borders and Barnes & Noble). It was so bad, that the only way to get through them was to think of it as a parallel universe with the names of the same people.

It is issues like these that make me so adament about keeping my novels as historically pure as possible. I have often found that the old adage, "Truth is stranger than fiction" to be very apt. While I'm certain that historical purists will probably find some errors in my books, I think they'll find that I stay true to the actual events more than most. I'm not out to reinvent history, but rather tell it as a story, rather than a dry history book (which I actually enjoy, but most people probably don't). Plus I also try and make it clear that literary license has to be used, and any deviations from known historical fact are an error on my part, and completely unintentional. Thankfully, the feedback I've gotten from the drafts of my first book have been favorable in that regard.

One interesting note: One historical character who plays a significant role in my series, yet I was able to take an enormous amount of literary license with is Pontius Pilate. I've worked my backside off trying to research him, and yet there is practically nothing documented prior to his appointment as governor of Judea in around 26 A.D. This basically allowed me to do as I pleased with him (anybody else ever done this?). All I could find was that he was an Army officer before, and a Tribune in the Praetorian Guard before his appointment. I have him as a Military Tribune who is in charge of the Legion's artillery in my first book. While the artillery officer part I completely made up, I was plesantly shocked to read in an excerpt from Josephus that Pilate one time makes the statement that he was at the Battle of Idistaviso, which ironically is the culminating battle in my book. So yeah, it was pretty neat to think that I basically created an entire portion of Pilate's life and career out of thin air, only to find out that according to Josephus he was in fact there. I mean, how cool is that?