Roman
History Blog - Featured Author
Rob Edmunds - Writes Novels of Roman Historical Interest
Firstly, I
would like to thank David from Roman ancient history for giving me
the opportunity to introduce my books to everyone. Unusually, the two
books I've written on Roman themes will be published together.
Perhaps that’s a good thing as, if you enjoy the first one, you
won’t have to wait to see how the story unfolds! The first is
entitled Masinissa: Ally of Carthage and its sequel is Masinissa:
Ally of Rome. Both take a distinctive perspective on some of the
major events that occurred during the Second Punic War. There have
been novels which feature Rome and Carthage as the main actors in
that conflict, but I’ve taken the third major force in the region
for my novels. Numidia was divided into two kingdoms at the time, the
Massylii which supported Carthage and the Masaesyli which was allied
with Rome. The hero of my books was a Numidian prince who would
ultimately unify Numidia and turn it into the breadbasket of Rome. He
would rule a unified Numidia for 54 years. He is still revered today
across eight countries in North Africa and the Sahel region as the
founding father of the Amazigh / Berber people. The story begins in
213BC at the point when Masinissa is entering the war as the
commander of a powerful cavalry force and concludes a little after
the climactic Battle of Zama in 202BC.
Masinissa: Ally of Carthage (Book 1)
My
interest in this story was a little accidental. I’ve always had a
strong interest in the classical period and Mediterranean
civilization, but I’d never heard about Masinissa before, which I
suspect may be a common admission from even those people who are very
knowledgeable about Roman history. My interest grew as I researched
the period and events and came across people who knew far more about
them than I did. One conversation was particularly striking. I was
speaking with a professor of ancient history from a quite eminent
university and he told me that he felt the decision Masinissa took to
abandon his alliance with Carthage and instead forge an alliance with
Rome was one of the five most momentous decisions ever taken in
history. There may be some bias in that contention, but it brought
home to me just how important Masinissa’s story was. He weakened
Carthage and strengthened Rome. If Carthage had won that war, so many
things in our world might be different, right down to the most
fundamental things like the alphabet and language I’m using now.
Another thing which galvanised and motivated me was the very positive
and encouraging comments and interactions I’ve received from people
within the Amazigh community in North Africa and elsewhere. He is a
very important historical and cultural figure across the entire
region.
Masinissa: Ally of Rome (Book 2)
From a
cultural perspective, the heroine of my books is even more
interesting than Masinissa. Sophonisba was, between the 16th and 19th
centuries, alongside Cleopatra, the most popular female figure for
dramatic depiction. There are many paintings and plays about her,
including one by John Marston, composer of the poem/song Rule
Britannia. There have also been 15 operas and 2 ballets about her,
and she was the central figure in the very first epic of cinema,
Cabiria,which played in theatres
worldwide in 1914.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Scipio Africanus freeing Massiva
I hope with
these books I will revive interest in her and Masinissa. Their
stories are truly epic. Hopefully I’ve done some sort of justice to
them! As an aside, as I’ve mentioned Cleopatra, Masinissa’s great
grandson, Juba II married the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony,
Cleopatra Selene.
In terms
of the covers, the first depicts Masinissa and Sophonisba in the
Brysa citadel of Carthage. The second is likely to be have been in
Cirta or Constantine in Algeria as it is now. It is a scene that has
been represented many times, most famously probably by the court
painter of King Louis XVIII Simon Vouet.
The fortress of Xativa
I have a
little bit more about my books in my website robedmunds.net and my
twitter profile is robedmunds11. Feel free to say hi! The e-books are
currently available exclusively with Amazon and kindle unlimited but
will be available on all other platforms from October 15th. The
physical books are also available to pre-order from the Amazon,
Waterstones, Troubador and even e-bay I believe! They will be
published on August 28th.
A selection of Roman History books can be found at
Copyright © 2020 David Lee
