- # The UK’s becoming more and more American. Now abortion is a big issue in a by-election? I watched the debate on Scotland’s Politics Show yesterday — another piece of evidence of the Americanisation of UK politics is the SNP candidate (John Mason) kept saying how popular Alex Salmond is, which, to me, indicates that he thinks Alex Salmond is more likely to win the election for John Mason than John Mason. (0)
- # I’m left scratching my head here — “the best way to profit from pirates is to copy them.” I get it, but weird. If pirates copy from companies and the companies then copy the pirates, does that mean we’ll just be embarking on a copy -> pirated copy -> copy from pirate -> pirated copy ->copy from pirate cycle? Hehe. (0)
- # Two policemen were attacked by a mob when they asked a teenager to pick up her litter (she did, then dropped it again, ’sparking a confrontation leading to the attack’). In London. (0)
- # Older employees ‘happier at work’ — those in their thirties, faced with pressures of starting a family, feel most shit. Wow, it’s nice to know that after several years of work, what I have yet to look forward to is feelings of unfulfillment and being undervalued. w00t. (4)
- # Oh, you Brits. You’re turning completely psycho, accusing a man taking photos of his kids on a slide of being a pervert (via BoingBoing, I am loving some of the comments). Does it not say more about the accusers than the accused? Who sees children as sexualised objects in this case? (3)
- # John Julius Norwich: another one of those cool old guys. I can’t help but feel a wee flutter in the belly when I read his name — his histories of Venice were absolutely outstanding. Could I be more nerdy? (0)
Review — Scipio
-
- Scipio by Ross Leckie: Bold, no-holds-barred fictional account of the great Roman general. Recommended for those who don't mind extreme bloodletting in the name of Rome.
Historical fiction is really something that should never be confused with period Mills & Boon-type romances. The single sex scene and later, attempted sex scene in Scipio would disqualify it from that genre altogether, being mercifully brief and no mention of throbbing members or tools of love.
(Forgive me, it’s been a long time since I’ve read any historical romances and I’m, frankly, just making things up.)
Scipio is the second book in the trilogy by Ross Leckie. It is being re-issued by my employer, and I read Hannibal much earlier (November 2007). This tells the story of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Wikipedia), a great Roman general. He is the contemporary of Hannibal (Livius.org), and in Scipio we get to see the battles between Carthage and Rome from the other side.
As far as I can tell, without being immortal or knowingly reincarnated from Roman times, this is one heck of a realistic portrayal of life in the late BCs. It could be short and brutal. People certainly weren’t very different, though. Our capacity for evil deeds appears to be endless.
The story is told while Scipio is awaiting the results of his trial — or rather, the appeal by Cato (who really has it in for Scipio). As an elderly gent (although the history books say he died in his early fifties), he is reminiscing about the good and not-so-good events in his life.
I was waiting (and wasn’t disappointed, although disappointed is a really inappropriate word for this) for the Roman account of the rape and brutalisation of Similce, Hannibal’s wife — the single incident that sent him right over the edge. The battles of Cannae and Trasimene were described in an equally bloody manner, maybe worse (because the Romans were the losers).
The artistic licence of using Bostar (Hannibal’s former mapmaker, more on him below) as Scipio’s secretary in his twilight years was really necessary to tie the two men even more closely together (history indicates they may even have died in the same year). I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the two men as I went through the book. In their intelligence and war strategy, they seemed really evenly-matched. In their determination to subjugate one another, they were equals, too (Hannibal was driven by the death of his father, then his wife, and Scipio lost his father to Hannibal). They were contemporaries in almost every sense of the word.
The style of storytelling is different from that of Hannibal — Bostar is a major player in the first account, but it is very much Hannibal’s story. In Scipio, he is actually writing down Scipio’s words, and adding his own asides and stories when Scipio is otherwise occupied.
I’m keen to read Carthage, the concluding part of the trilogy. It tells the story of Hanno, Hannibal’s son. It’ll be published early next year, so hopefully I’ll get to read it in a few months’ time.
- # This must be one of those disposable mobiles criminals use in CSI to evade identification. (0)