Neoflash

Wow, that is awesome. Thanks for your input. I want to make the book as historically accurate as possible, but I may decide to portray certain aspects or roman life in the light of roman ideals rather than absolute factual historical truths. Although I tend to lean on the historical accuracy side, this being a fictional novel, I willu se a bit of romanticizing (no pun intended) to balance things out and fabricate an interesting plot and lively characters.

I'm planning a series of books to take Ryanus (although I think I might choose a different name for the protagonist) through his career (cursus honorum), starting in the fisrt book at the position of military tribune. Right now I'm thinking that I could use the roman name Nephele came up for me and the little background story she came up with as a starting point for building the character (http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4743&pid=89004&st=660entry89004), what do you think? The current vision is that the story could begin in mid-late 107BC, on a boat crossing the Mediterranean, the protagonist, a military tribune (perhaps newly appointed), is making the trip to Africa with the consul Marius in order to wage war against Jugurtha. I

Thanks for the input. I agree with your assessment. What do you think of 107 BC as a starting point for the first book. The Marian Reforms, the Jugurthine War, growing political strife; I think it would be a good starting point. Here is what I like about it: A great leader, Marius, who somewhat defies the status quo (changes the army and runs for consul 6 times over a period of 8 years, technically against the law), the birth and early career of better known Romans like Cicero, Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Ceasar, The Social War... Damn, I think I've got it. It would cover another period than the usual 50BC-200CE so often used in novels and movies but it is close enough to it so that the reader won't be too disoriented. What do you think?

Hi, My full name is: Philippe (First) Michel (Middle) Vaillancourt (Last) Gender: Male Thanks,

Hi, I'm in the planning and research stage of writing a novel set in Ancient Rome. I have some ideas as to plot and characters but I'm having a really hard time deciding in which period to set the story. I'd like you to give me your opinion on which year or period you think would be the best. To give you an idea of the theme, I'm planning to write a series of books following a protagonist going up the cursus honorum. Basically, I want it to be something like the Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series of books but set in ancient Rome. Much like Jack Ryan, my protagonist will start his political journey at the bottom of the food chain with very little interest in becoming a politician; but his patriotism and sense of duty kind of pushes him up the public service ladder nonetheless. Like Ryan, my protagonist will be from humble origins but will have made money and is now independantly wealthy. From one book to the next he will deal with different national/political/military/security crises and work his way up to consul. Each book will cover no more that a 12 month period and I'm looking for the total series to cover around 20 years of roman history. The question is, which 20 year period in all of Roman history do you feel will provide the ideal backdrop for a military/political/Tom-Clancy-like thriller? and why? I have pretty much decided that I want the books to be set in republican times rather than imperial time but if you feel otherwise please tell me why. Your input is much appreciated.