This book is an historical novel and a love story. Ms. Davis's depth of knowledge of the period is evident in The Course of Honor . The heroine and main character, Caenis, was an actual historical personage. She is mentioned briefly in the Oxford Historical Dictionary and the Encyclopedia Britannica . She was one half of a love affair that spanned decades and continued till death.
Romance novels can only hint at such long-term devotion.
It's no wonder that Ms. Davis was drawn to flesh out such a heroine in such an era. While no details are known of Caenis's life, she witnessed a long succession of significant historical events and must have been a remarkable woman. The story begins in the year 31 A.D. during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, known to his family as Vespasian, in the company of his older brother Sabinus, a Roman Senator, comes upon the slave girl Caenis, cooking her lunch of sausages in a nearly deserted palace. Caenis was born a slave in the palace, but when she was a child, her intelligence was recognized, and she has been well educated so that she can work as a scribe.