R. M. Ogilvie (as quoted by Betty Radice in her introduction to
Titus Livius, known in English as Livy, lived in the reign of Augustus. His monumental history,
Other ancient sources for early Roman history include the biographies of Plutarch, Cicero’s
the
of Strabo, the histories of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, Cassius Dio, and Polybius, the plays of Plautus, and the
Books by modern authors which I found especially stimulating included Augusto Fraschetti’s
Romolo II Fondatore
Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracchus Brothers
Lays of Ancient Rome,
Coriolanus,
William Smith’s
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
(mine is the 1928 edition) were my daily companions. Both books can be found online, along with many other texts, maps, and additional information, at a Web site called LacusCurtius maintained by Bill Thayer; during the research and writing of
Readers who want to know the precise location of monuments and landmarks should consult the book
(Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series, 2002), largely produced by scholars at the University of Pennsylvania. The large-scale maps that accompany their book are works of prodigious research and exquisite design. For sheer pleasure, readers may want to have a look at the map
This novel has been the largest and most complicated project I’ve ever undertaken, and I’m grateful to those who’ve helped me along the way. The earliest origin of
Farrago Latina,
The sometimes uncannily familiar political struggles and partisan machinations in
Was Fascinus the first deity of the Romans, as recounted in
The mystical phallus that rises from a hearthfire appears in the origin myth of the Roman king Servius Tullius, and, even earlier, in a variant of the origin story of Romulus as related by the historian Promathion. Early Greek authors like Promathion were the first to speculate on the beginnings of Rome, upon which they tended to superimpose their own myths; eventually the Romans themselves would link the foundation of their city with a Greek legend, the fall of Troy (the subject of
If Promathion’s depiction of the divine phallus is drawn from an authentic and very early Roman myth, and if this phallus from the hearth is the same deity that later became known as Fascinus, then it may indeed be that Fascinus was the first Roman god. Livy, I suspect, would understand my reasons for making it so.