Erryn Lee writes...

Pomegranate tree from fresco in the Villa of Livia When teaching ‘History’ the first thing I try to instil in my students is an understanding that history is not truth, it is versions and interpretations. What does this mean?  The answer is simple. History is what we assume happened until we know better. Where it is well recorded we can know definitive things like dates of events, but the further back we go and the more reprints we have to work through the more likely even this is flawed. What we cannot know is motivations and what we deal with is interpretations. Every account of history has issues with bias and perspective. Who saw what, from where and what personal prejudices and experiences did they draw on to interpret it? And that is a first hand account, not taking into account the revisions, translations and further interpretations of countless people who carried the ‘history’ into the present. Take for example the known history of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD79. We know M

  Misformed monster or masterful magnate? Emperors of Rome Part 3: Claudius (Part A) Famous for being found hiding behind a curtain and declared accidental emperor by the praetorians, there is much more to Claudius than meets the eye (more than a single post- so there will be three) Born in 10BC, the child of Antonia Minor and Nero Claudius Drusus, Claudius' grandparents included Mark Antony, Octavia (sister of Augustus) and Livia, wife of Augustus. With such regal bloodlines, one might have expected big things of Claudius, and yet, in his early years, he was hidden from public view, out of sight and out of mind. Nothing was expected of Claudius and yet he would come to outshine all his siblings. Sadly Claudius, the third child of illustrious parents, had been born with a disabling illness. According to sources (Suetonius, Seneca and Dio Cassius), Claudius had a ‘tottering gait’ a shaky head and hands, his right foot dragged and his legs would collapse from under him. To make it wo

  Mad, monster or misunderstood? Emperors of Rome Part 1: Caligula When you think of the Emperors of Rome, and someone mentions madness, does your mind not go straight to the name of Caligula? You have probably heard that he 'loaned' out his sisters… or worse. He turned the imperial palace into a 'house of ill repute' (Facebook blocks me when I use more pointed terms), had was so mad about chariot racing that his favourite horse had a marble stable with gold troughs and he made his horse a senator. Am I far wrong? Today you often hear talk of ‘children of trauma’ and the damage done by the abuse or suffering in childhood. Caligula himself is a classic case. But let’s go back a little and even give him back his real name. Gaius Julius Caesar was raised as a small child in the army camps of Germania, where he must have witnessed the aftermath of battle, at least one rebellion against his family that threatened his own life and was dressed by his affectionate (or manipulat

  DOMUS GAI - Rome  CLAUDIUS He tried to sit calmly, scroll in hand, the res geste , words of revered Augustus, written in the Emperor’s own hand. Words which normally soothed him, though today they danced across the page like drunken plebeians at Saturnalia. The two fingers of his right hand tapped out an anxious beat. He willed them to still but they continued defiantly. Across the room, Marcus watched him warily. When the man had joined them outside the theatre he had wanted to curse but instead had welcomed him calmly and as Asiaticus made surreptitious throat slicing gestures, shook his head. He liked the man. He was quiet, studious and loyal to the principate, despite how much it had cost him. Moreover, he was an excellent orator. He was what Claudius sometimes envisioned his own self, had he not been hampered by the vagaries of his condition. Shifting his left hand to still his traitorous fingers, Claudius licked his lips and shifted a quick glance between Asiaticus and the door

    Today, I killed Caligula. I did not wield the blade but the keys of my laptop were just as effective. To celebrate (and mourn) the demise of a villain close to my heart I will share two extracts today. This first one is from Aquila Book One: Child of Rome. Warning: extract contains sexual references CAPRAEA- Villa Jovis  GAIUS  Gaius lay in bed, tracing her dark nipple with his finger until it rose to attention.  ‘You should insist he finds you a new wife, Gaius. I hear he is looking for one for young Gemellus.’  Gaius laughed, ‘What would that baby do with a woman? Last time Tiberius spoke of another marriage for me he threatened me with my brother Nero’s former bride, the last thing I need is a frigid spy in my bed.’ He squeezed her nipple and she squeaked. ‘Besides, I have you, Ennia, and all the whores on the island.’  She slapped his hand and rolled face down, protecting her vulnerable nipples and facing him. ‘I am only on loan and the whores on this island are all boy.’  The

Can you REALLY learn from Historical Fiction? I have recently read many articles which challenge the value of historical fiction, claiming that people can not in fact learn anything about history from reading Historical fiction or that what they learn is wrong and I want to take the opportunity to respond to that accusation. Certainly, I cannot argue that Historical Fiction is fiction not fact and I am guessing many people are confused by the different forms of historical fiction and the varying accuracy of the stories being presented. I recently considered putting in a short story for a competition and submission into an anthology but the premise ‘what if’ was one that challenged me. The premise required me to choose a historical event and write what if it didn’t happen, or happened differently. Sure, I often wonder using ‘what if’s’ and it is intriguing to consider how things might have been different if Anne Boleyn had born a boy not a girl, or if as a messenger for the German army