The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-30
ANCIENT ROME IN FICTION

Il is an obviously true II somewhat trite
OF seCgation that our attitude towards the
ancient Graeco- Roman world has changed
materially during the last forty years or
so. We know more about that world, and
the knowledge, such Is II is. is more wide
~ distributed; and familiarity has bred.
rot indeed, contempt. but a certain de-
crease Of reverence. That vague tradi-
tional sentiment OF superstitious vensTa-
ton. which gave a kind OF superhunan
magnitude 10 the heroes OF antiquity and
all that pertained TO them. has gone
the way Of most superStitionS. Sober
reason and the historical method have
orened our eyes 10 the fact that these
great ones were, after al. men OF Ike
passions with ourselves. Some have been
deJhrOneG from their psdestals. others
raised from the abyss; We are taught 10
know that Cicero was only an advocate
and not very good one: and 10 recog-
nize the essentially bourgeois" element
II the tragedies OF Sophocles; Tiberins
is whitewaShed. and there is a good deal
70 say for Calisula. IN short, they ali
belong 10 a world like our own, wG5re no
one is wholly. good or entirely bad: and
as q consequence the golden age OF the
classics-the period OF halo and glamour
lis over. antiquity and the language Of
antiquity has lost its inspiring magic; we
live in the midst Of ReaIien and tas We
are told that Pompeius entered the uys-
terlous temple OF Jerusalem only 70 find
'vacUas seces Ct mania srcana'e so the
substitution OF the realistic for the con-
veutional has brought with It a certain
Inevitable measure or establishment II
is much now II we write even an epitaph
in Latin. Parliamentary eloquence no
longer clinches its arguments beyond re-
futation with quotations from the second
hook Of the Asneid; nor do military vet
Grams 10 these latter DAYS like Rawdon
Crawley, advise their offspring 10 stick 10
the classics, my boy, because there's moth
ing like en-. Alas, there are number Of
things like EN-" now-only more 50.
This is a change which has notably af-
fected the ''fictional" treatment of sub
Jects taken from the domGin of ancient
history. And here it must be understood
that We are speaking primarily and main
" Of the Roman and not the Hellenic
world For various reasons nOvelists
have rarely. II ever. drawn on Greek hts
tory for inspiration. Greek has always
been to a certain extent terra incognita.
the property Of your Persons and such
Ike. a Jhorny subject and dangerous 10
NEEDLE with Here and there the re-
searches of a "Ouida" may enable her 70
head a chapter with the fascinating title.
''Thalassis, ThalasssT OF 10 dwell foudly
on the heroic days when the 10 Tri-
Tmphe echoed up the vineclad slopes of
the Acropol;s;" but for the most part nov
olists. knowing their public and its limi-
tations. have been wisely content 10 deal
with the merest commonplace OF Greek
tory-ThermOpylae. Socrates draught
of hemlOck, and so on-and this only by
way of casual allusion.
The Latin world on the other hand,
has always had A strong hold on popular
sentiment; the British public has always.
by a convention. known" certain periods
IL Roman history; which, indeed. is the
defense which protects Latin at the
present day from the attacks which ars
daily made upon Greek. Every argument
used against the teacher Of the latter Ian
guage could be equally employed against
the necessity of the former But Greek
is suspect, as the property Of mere schol-
airs. Latin is defended by a remnant Of
the belief that every gentleman knows his
Horace
Moreover. TO take the story-writer's
point of view. what period has Greek his
tory 10 offer like the Gor purposes Of
fictiOn) wholly admirable first century OF
the Christian era at Rome2 II IS only.
perhaps, rather strange that more use has
not been made of such possibilities as
must be offered by the Rome and Italy
OF that epoch. vi ~ its-even to these pro-
sale days-aimCst too strong contrasts or
Isn't and shade: its great city. and capt.
tai and center OF the world: its vicious
court; the overgrown Injuries OF its SO
Getty. described and denounced by satire
its men. the very types Of so many heroes
o. modern fiction. ''pravi ant fndustrii /
eadem. viz" it's tyrauts and martyrs. its /
effeminate desperadoes and the most pic /
tuTesque relations with the new religion. 1
already blending with and modifying the /
society and the culture q its prosecutors, /
pure amid corruption. martyred Yet tri-
umphant. conquered but destined 10 con-
ouer. Surely never was such material +
ready To the hand OF prscticed story
teller who, indeed. II ne chose could ind
a score Of plots ready-made In the pages
o. TacitUs. Consider. moreover, that the
public is so familiar with the leading
and ---s prominent figures +
OF this time that the novelist may adorn 1
his pages with all kinds Of classical mate !
rial. yet never be under the painful neces- I
sity Of explaining 10 his readers who Ju- /
venal was. or what is the precise meaning (
OF. say. "Norituri n salutamus:" and II Is T.
small wonder that imperial Rome-with 4
its gallery Of such attractive figures as
the Bad Emperor. the Dying Gladiator, /
the Supple Greek. and the inevitable but 4
always charming Christian maiden .
should have furnished the plot Of AZ least /
three popular stories within the last sixty .
years.-London LINES