Vindolanda

Our first meeting with Flavius Ferox is hardly auspicious; according to the sentry who is relaying the opener, he is messy drunk and trying desperately not to get involved in the trouble that has just been dumped in his lap. Yet his intelligence, personal morality, and hard working nature come quickly to the fore when we switch to his point of view and when the real and significant threat of these raiding tribes becomes clear. This is not some drunk who benefits from miracles, but a centurion who thinks, plans, puts in the work. His voice won me over: clever, capable, and more than a little handy with his gladius. 

Goldsworthy has put together a great central character here, one who I hope to see more of in future novels, but it's not just him that keeps you reading. In fact, I was surprised by the fast paced and intriguing plot, especially considering the level of detail about Roman army weapons, fighting styles, and units. Goldsworthy is an excellent historian who specialises in the Roman army and whose books are exceptionally researched, argued, and wide ranging, yet can tend towards the dry due to the sheer amount of information included. Here, he manages to add enough that the reader can imagine an intricate and specific picture in their mind, created by someone who probably knows as much as there is to know about the subject, without impeding the vivid and violent scenes of battle. Perhaps it's just me but I found it to add that much more to the scenes, knowing just what type of weapon was used to stab that Roman or that Briton; it reminded me that while this is a fictionalised version, there were once real men who fought in this way, in these places, and who died at each others' hands. Isn't that at the very heart of historical fiction?

This is a great addition to the genre, both readable and exciting. Hopefully the start of a new series...


ARC via Netgalley.

A brilliant historic fiction.

Adrian Goldsworthy’s 2017 novel of Roman Britain set in AD 98, years before Hadrian’s Wall but also a few decades after Boudicca’s revolt, describes a time when the expanding Roman Empire had pushed far into the north of Britain, into Scotland, but was far from holding this far conquest without contest from the natives.

While this is an extraordinarily well researched and erudite novel about life in the Roman Empire, the most compelling details lay in Goldsworthy’s descriptions of the various tribes and peoples who make up the Empire, and only a few in Britain at this time were Italians.

Goldsworthy’s protagonist is Flavius Ferox, a Roman centurion, but also a Silure – from a tribe of people who lived in what is now southern Wales. Ferox’ grandfather was a tribesman who was defeated by the Roman invaders and now this ethnic group has pledged loyalty to Rome and has produced in Ferox a formidable soldier.

Calling someone Native American is like calling someone European – vaguely accurate but falling far short of the whole truth. It is more precise to say Sioux, or Cherokee, or Belgian or German. So too does Goldsworthy eschew the term Celtic and unerringly describe his characters in first century Britain as Brigantians, Caledones, Selgovae, and Iceni. The Romans are also not just Italian, but composed of soldiers from other parts of the empire and Goldsworthy likewise adds details of their tribal ancestry.

The author also spends time with social and cultural aspects of this time and place. The druids are cast as a mysterious and ancient, but still potentially powerful, sect intent on ousting the foreigners. Ferox, a British Roman soldier, is approached in one noteworthy scene by a druid and offered the chance to avenge his grandfather. Fans of such films as Gladiator, The Eagle and Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur will like this.

Well written and informative, it is also readable and entertaining.