04-07-2006, 06:29 AM
Ave!
Here is yet another review, possibly one of the best, so far.
"Book Review: Imperial Governor by George Shipway
Published by Mark Whittington Dec 8, 2005
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, British author George Shipway wrote a series of excellent historical novels, as well as a novel of dark political satire called The Yellow Room. The best of these novels, Imperial Governor, was recently re-issued and the occasion is one of great rejoicing for fans of historical fiction.
Imperial Governor tells the story of Seutonius Paulinus, the Roman governor of the province of Britannia during the revolt of Boudicca. Paulinus is depicted in the story as part harried bureaucrat, part professional soldier. He is assigned to take control of the province and to make it a profitable part of the Roman Empire. In carrying out his task, Paulinus not only has to contend with the restive Celtic tribes of Britannia, but with corrupt public officials in Nero’s Rome.
The wonderful aspect of the book is that the characters within it are not modern people in togas or Celtic woad. They are people of their times, with values and attitudes that might seem strange and, at times, even repellant to the modern reader.
Paulinus is not adverse to committing mass murder or torture in order to advance Roman Imperial goals. But, at least until the aftermath of the Boudicca revolt, he doesn’t commit atrocities out of needless cruelty or spite. He is just doing what is necessary, by his own lights, to enforce the Roman Peace.
Nor are the Celts the cute, cuddly, new age people of modern myth. They follow religious practices, including horrific human sacrifice, that are barbaric beyond belief. When Boudicca’s host takes a Roman town, they slaughter the inhabitants, man, woman, and child. While Boudicca is considered a national heroine in Great Britain, she is depicted in the novel as little better than a blood crazed terrorist.
The novel is rich with detail, especially of Roman military operations. The movements of each legion, each cohort, each auxiliary cavalry detachment, are described in loving detail. Even better, we actually hear the groans of men locked in combat, smell their fear, and even feel the impact of edged weapons on human flesh.
Attempts at comparisons with modern events is, perhaps, inevitable, but greatly misplaced. Paulinus would be astonished at what he would have considered a coddling policy in Iraq. He would not have been interested in producing a democracy in the Middle East or in winning hearts and minds. His solution to a problem like road side bombs would be the nail people on crosses on the site of each and every one that exploded until they stopped exploding. The subtleties of counter insurgency warfare in the media age would have been beyond him.
Of course there is something to be said about the Celtic Druids being the equivalent of Al Qaeda mullahs. Like mullahs in our time instilling in worshipers the zeal to become suicide bombers, the druids of Paulinus’ time incited thousands of Celtic warriors to put on woad and to charge lines of Roman legionaries. The result, in a stand up battle, was tens of thousands of Celts dead, and only a hand full of Romans touched at all.
The Roman legion of Paulinus’ time was a many legged, many armed machine that had only one purpose, which was to kill anything in its way. For all the personal valor and zeal of the Celts, they were as nothing compared to the professional killers that marched beneath the eagles. The technological and training advantage of modern armies over modern terrorists is similar. The difference is that in ancient Rome there was no controversy about paying the price in blood and treasure to bring what Rome called the barbarians to heel.
After Boudicca fell, there were no more serious threats to Roman rule in Britain for three and a half centuries. What followed what a kind of melding of two cultures, Roman and Celtic, that became richer than the sum of its parts. That was a rare and splendid accomplishment, which helped made the Great Britain and, indirectly, the America we know today."
There could be more tomorrow, please keep checking back.
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Here is yet another review, possibly one of the best, so far.
"Book Review: Imperial Governor by George Shipway
Published by Mark Whittington Dec 8, 2005
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, British author George Shipway wrote a series of excellent historical novels, as well as a novel of dark political satire called The Yellow Room. The best of these novels, Imperial Governor, was recently re-issued and the occasion is one of great rejoicing for fans of historical fiction.
Imperial Governor tells the story of Seutonius Paulinus, the Roman governor of the province of Britannia during the revolt of Boudicca. Paulinus is depicted in the story as part harried bureaucrat, part professional soldier. He is assigned to take control of the province and to make it a profitable part of the Roman Empire. In carrying out his task, Paulinus not only has to contend with the restive Celtic tribes of Britannia, but with corrupt public officials in Nero’s Rome.
The wonderful aspect of the book is that the characters within it are not modern people in togas or Celtic woad. They are people of their times, with values and attitudes that might seem strange and, at times, even repellant to the modern reader.
Paulinus is not adverse to committing mass murder or torture in order to advance Roman Imperial goals. But, at least until the aftermath of the Boudicca revolt, he doesn’t commit atrocities out of needless cruelty or spite. He is just doing what is necessary, by his own lights, to enforce the Roman Peace.
Nor are the Celts the cute, cuddly, new age people of modern myth. They follow religious practices, including horrific human sacrifice, that are barbaric beyond belief. When Boudicca’s host takes a Roman town, they slaughter the inhabitants, man, woman, and child. While Boudicca is considered a national heroine in Great Britain, she is depicted in the novel as little better than a blood crazed terrorist.
The novel is rich with detail, especially of Roman military operations. The movements of each legion, each cohort, each auxiliary cavalry detachment, are described in loving detail. Even better, we actually hear the groans of men locked in combat, smell their fear, and even feel the impact of edged weapons on human flesh.
Attempts at comparisons with modern events is, perhaps, inevitable, but greatly misplaced. Paulinus would be astonished at what he would have considered a coddling policy in Iraq. He would not have been interested in producing a democracy in the Middle East or in winning hearts and minds. His solution to a problem like road side bombs would be the nail people on crosses on the site of each and every one that exploded until they stopped exploding. The subtleties of counter insurgency warfare in the media age would have been beyond him.
Of course there is something to be said about the Celtic Druids being the equivalent of Al Qaeda mullahs. Like mullahs in our time instilling in worshipers the zeal to become suicide bombers, the druids of Paulinus’ time incited thousands of Celtic warriors to put on woad and to charge lines of Roman legionaries. The result, in a stand up battle, was tens of thousands of Celts dead, and only a hand full of Romans touched at all.
The Roman legion of Paulinus’ time was a many legged, many armed machine that had only one purpose, which was to kill anything in its way. For all the personal valor and zeal of the Celts, they were as nothing compared to the professional killers that marched beneath the eagles. The technological and training advantage of modern armies over modern terrorists is similar. The difference is that in ancient Rome there was no controversy about paying the price in blood and treasure to bring what Rome called the barbarians to heel.
After Boudicca fell, there were no more serious threats to Roman rule in Britain for three and a half centuries. What followed what a kind of melding of two cultures, Roman and Celtic, that became richer than the sum of its parts. That was a rare and splendid accomplishment, which helped made the Great Britain and, indirectly, the America we know today."
There could be more tomorrow, please keep checking back.
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
![[Image: spedius-mcmxliii.gif]](http://www.nhmgs.org/images/spedius-mcmxliii.gif)
