Set in Rome in the early part of the first century B.C., this three-chapter historical novel takes the reader into the life of Julius Caesar when he was a ten-year-old child prodigy with the Social War looming; a married, eighteen-year-old recently stripped of his position of the High Priest of Jupiter following Sulla's victory over Mithradates; and a twenty-year-old fugitive on the run from the forces of Sulla—with a flying carpet.
Yes, there is a flying carpet. That's what makes this a historical novel. Nevertheless, it is heavy on history and provides a good look at what Rome was like back in those days, when it had one million inhabitants, one-fourth of whom were slaves.
With an undercurrent of the feud between Marius and Sulla that began in the years following the Jugurthine War, the focus is on young Julius, a charismatic patrician kid whose family's claim to fame (on his father's side) was that they could trace their ancestry back to the Trojan hero Aeneas, who was believed to be the son of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, whom the Romans called Venus. Being a descendant of Venus was a pretty hard to beat, and the Caesars didn't hesitate to play that card.
Roman history buffs will enjoy this novella, which can easily be read in one sitting. People interested in learning more about the life and times of Julius Caesar will enjoy it as well.
This story moves like a chariot race, but there's nothing like a flying carpet to make a story really take off.
