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"Who could say what might be occurring at that very moment somewhere in the world... where the birth of a man or movement might alter the world's destiny once again?"

The book jacket describes the book as a "panoramic historical saga," and I would agree! This is an excellent work. Such a great concept that the author chose to follow. Spanning 1000 years, the novel follows the shifting fortunes of two families through the ages. You experience the founding of a settlement along a riverbank to the ascent of a city poised to become the capital of the world. Linking each generation is a talisman as ancient as Roma itself.

I think one of my favorite parts in this novel is the every-changing maps marking each chapter. Not only do you read stories of a family, but you can see the world they live in develop with each generation. I was truly in love with this journey through time. I think the best historical fiction is also rich in facts, and this book is no exception! Carefully crafted and brilliantly voice through the 549-page novel, I never lost interest! It seems that struggles for equality and political arguments and intrigue will remain uncannily familiar subjects throughout time. In Rome, these struggles permeated life through the city's growth.

I also learned so much about the society. Sometimes its hard to keep historical names straight, and that's because men would commonly change their names due to accomplishments in life. Even as fathers passed down their names to their sons, the book was never confusing. I could easily keep the different characters straight.

I think another favorite piece of this novel would be how events in one chapter would become legends and myths in the next. The development of the society based on character choices in each chapter was just mesmerizing and fascinating. I love exploring history, and this really took me through the development of a strong and proud people!

At the close of this family's story, I felt a sense of peace had finally graced their life. And of course, their family line did not end. This book illustrates that life and love will carry us to the end of time! There are no endings as long as love endures. Sappy? Yes, but the book was truly epic! Saylor is great at penning both strong men and women characters. Loved it! This book would be in my top 10 historical recommendations!

I enjoyed this book, but I think the portrayal of Marcus Crassus, the richest man in Rome, was a lot better and more fair minded on Starz Spartacus than on this book. I think they really tried to make him into a monster, although the ending was totally unexpected and I was really surprised.

Saylor writers amazing Roman whodunit novels. It's like Sherlock Holmes, but with togas. He's not a prude like Robert Graves (I Claudius, Claudius The God) but sometimes he shows a little too much of things that are of a prurient nature.

Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome is by Steven Saylor. This novel tells the history of Rome through one family’s descendants. It adds a human interest addition to history. It fills out the facts with what could have happened. Steven Saylor did an excellent job of writing. One’s interest is held captive by his words. One can imagine the hills covered with trees and later covered with homes and buildings. One can see Romulus and Remus and friends running through the villages naked and covered with wolf pelts. Not having studied Roman history in some time, I decided to look up the history and found the same stories in an authentic website along with other versions. One of the sites even mentioned Saylor’s book as a good one to read.
The novel begins with the salt traders in 1000BC. Larth is the leader of the traders and Lara is his daughter. While they are on the island in the middle of the river, they run into three men who are metalworkers and are also traveling. The paths of the two professions cross here. However, this is the first time they have met. That evening, Larth looks into the fire and sees the Fascinus, a winged phallus his family’s guide in the fire. He knows to pay attention to the problem he is wrestling with at the time and the guide will tell him what to do. This evening it told him to send his daughter to the metal worker Tarketios. She follows her father’s orders and goes to Tarketios and they copulate. The next morning as the two groups take leave of each other, she gives him a container of salt and she is given a piece of gold on a leather strap. In later years, this gold is changed into an amulet with the Fascinus on it. This amulet is passed down from father to son or daughter through the years. As we follow the family through the years, we also follow the kings and rulers of Rome to 1BC.
I found some of the first stories quite interesting as mythology stories. The story of Cacus. He was a deformed child who was larger than most of the others. As he grew to manhood, no one could best him. When the village had a very hard time finding food for the winter, they would decide to send children out into the wilderness as an offering to the numina so the village would survive. The number was determined by augury and the children chosen by lottery. Cacus was chosen He and six others were turned out of the village at the rite of spring. They were on their own for food, water, and safety. When the first girl died, the others were reduced to cannibalism to survive. The same happened with the second child. The third one died of poison and the fourth of a fever so they buried them. Cacus killed the fifth and sixth children and ate them. When possible, he would also eat animals. Not having baths or haircuts or new clothes, he was turned from a child into an animal. He finally came to live in a cave near the settlement that would become Rome. Here he ate cattle or other animals and the occasional child who ran across him. Men tried to catch him or kill him but he was able to avoid them. Finally a stranger came to the village and Cacus ate one of his oxen. As the man went to look for him, he heard a woman’s screams and rushed to help. He found Cacus raping Politia, a girl from the village and a descendant of Lara. He kills Cacus by breaking his neck. Politia does not tell anyone she was raped. That night, the stranger tried to comfort Politia and ended up copulating with her. The stranger leaves and she is pregnant. She does not know whose son she had and even after his birth she couldn’t tell. The stranger is identified by the Phoenicians who come to trade. They say he is Melkat, a demigod. They say the Greeks call him Heracles. The people likes the second name better and built the first alter in Rome for Heracles. This goes right along with the Erymanthian Boar in the Twelve Labors of Heracles and other stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and had a hard time putting it down in the evening.