Review: Little Roman
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 27, 2013
I really enjoyed reading this book. It's always gratifying to read an account to men banding together to fight their oppressors. There is never a dull moment in The Galley and there is some lovely romance.The action takes place during the reign of the mad Roman emperor Nero. Our hero find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up being condemned to serve as a galley slave. Galley slaves rarely survive more than a year or two, and he and his fellows suffer under a viciously cruel overseer named Gracchus. The slaves have no names, they are addressed only by numbers. Among the other slaves is a large Nubian who is our hero's bench mate, who calls him "little Roman,", a Greek genius who has mastered a knowledge of chemistry and pyrotechnics far in advance of his era, and a Chinese who has knowledge of gunpowder. There are also two lovely young lady passengers, Calpurnia and her Judean maidservant Sarah.Little Roman finds a nail and uses it to compromise the chains holding himself and the other galley slaves, and when pirates attack the ship the slaves escape, destroy both the pirates and the hated crew and take over the ship. Little Roman takes charge and is elected captain, as he has more nautical knowledge than any of the other slaves.Knowing that they are not safe anywhere within Roman territory, the Greek and the Chinese set about to develop weapons that will destroy any pursuers-weapons that would not be developed until the 15th century A.D., and even one that would not be available until the 20th century A.D. Little Roman comes across a missive from Nero to General Corbulo indicating Nero's plan to set the known world into conflagration and he persuades the crew that they must destroy the special Roman fleet that will be used for this purpose. They set sail for Gibraltar to encounter this fleet once they have developed their awesome weapons.While this is an engaging and fun read, one must suspend a lot of disbelief. I found the idea that the Chinese, shortly upon arriving in Rome, had mastered enough Latin or Greek to have deep philosophical and scientific discussions with the Greek even more incredible than the advanced weapons they developed together. The author also mentions corn and coffee, two New World plants that would not reach the old world until after 1492. This is a good story, well told, but belonging more in the realm of fantasy than historical fiction.