Vindolanda

I have read hundreds of non-fiction books (including primary sources) about the Roman Empire. As a result, I do not enjoy most fiction works since many have very little basis in fact. When I saw that Adrian Goldsworthy had written a fiction novel, I was excited to read it. I have read all of his non-fiction books on Ancient Rome and thoroughly enjoyed them. This book did not disappoint. It has fascinating characters, great battle scenes, and historical accuracy. I hope Mr. Goldsworthy continues to write fiction as well as non-fiction.

I have read both fiction and non fiction from Dr. Goldsworthy in the past. This is, by far, the best fictional book that I have read by him. His understanding of the early Imperial Roman army and society shows through in the subject matter and dialogue. The main characters are full and well defined with attitudes that reflect the time period. The centurion who is the main character is interesting and worth following.

I do hope that this is but the first in a long running series. Adrian Goldsworthy has done himself proud with this fictional story. A basic understanding of Roman and/or Roman age Britain is helpful for the fullest understanding of the main story line, but not absolutely necessary to enjoying a well written book.

This is Adrian Goldsworthy’s first “swords and sandals” novel taking place during the Roman Empire, although it is not his first historical novel. Historians do not necessarily make good novelists (and vice versa) although I must confess that I was simply unable to put this book down and finished it in about two days, one early morning.

While the book may not be perfect, as some other reviewers have pointed at, and may not be entirely original – this is not exactly the first novel taking place on the northern frontiers of Britannia or “on the edge of the world” to paraphrase another book’s title, it does however a lot going for it.

First of all, this is a novel for those who like them as accurate as possible with regards to the historical context and day to day life. The author is, of course, ideally placed to achieve this and get the details right.

With regards to the historical context, the year is AD 98, and Trajan has just become Emperor a few weeks (or months) before. There is lots of uncertainty and apprehension, with Trajan’s position not yet cemented to the extent that he has not yet made it to Rome to get endorsed by the Senate and prefers to remain with the Rhine legions. Potential rivals lurk in the dark while memories of the bitter civil war that say the demise of Nero thirty years before are still fresh in many people’s mind.

The reign of Domitian, who was assassinated two years before, saw this Emperor put a stop to Roman expansion in Britain, with camps being abandoned in what is now Scotland, troops being pulled back and even a full legion being redeployed on the Danube to face the Dacians and Sarmatians. Unsurprisingly, Caledonians and Hibernians are quick to believe that Rome is weak and Britain is ripe for conquest and there could very well have bene trouble on the northern frontier at the beginning of Trajan’s reign, as would happen for a number of subsequent emperors. While all this is quite believable, I was less convinced with the pseudo-Druids from the south stirring things up against the Romans way up north in Caledonia. The whiff of “religious war” is however somewhat anachronistic. It would have fitted better during Boadicea’s revolt, before the Romans wiped out the Druids on the island of Mona, as the author seems to acknowledge.

Another strength of this novel is the author’s ability to get the day-today details right. So you get your Roman soldiers drinking more or less watered posca (sour wine), with the correct units quartered in the correct forts. You also get all the details of Roman clothing and dinner parties.

Finally and unsurprisingly given the author’s speciality as a historian of the Roman army, you get all the details about Roman equipment, military life and warfare, with a fair amount of action and a major battle towards the end.

Here, however, I found that there were at least a couple of original points that stood out and were part of the author’s strenuous efforts in making this story “sound and fell” real. Both relate to the author’s efforts in showing the Roman army as living entity, as opposed to the perfect war machine that is sometimes depicted. One is Roman army units were all typically understrength, especially in peacetime, and for a wide range of reasons. The so-called wooden tablets found at Vindolanda support this idea. The second, which partly explains the first point, is that Roman soldiers fulfilled a wide range of tasks going well beyond that of garrisoning forts and could be posted away from their units and across the whole island on detached duty for years. This is particularly the case of our hero – Flavius Ferox – a centurion of II Augusta (in garrison in South Wales) but commanding an outpost north of what would become Hadrian’s Wall in a little more than two decades. As the representative of Rome up north, Ferox’s role is to keep the peace and to watch out for trouble and keep an eye on the local and supposedly allied tribes. He is a scout, but he also exercises intelligence and police functions, ensures the tribute is collected and plays the role of an arbitrator and judge among the natives. There must have been quite a few detached centurions like him spread along the Empire’s frontiers whose tasks were to preserve the Pax Romana.

An interesting twist is that Ferox is a Briton, the grandson of the last King of the Silures whose kingdom was in the south-eastern part of modern Wales, who was brought up by the Romans and now serves in their army. This alludes to Roman integration or how Rome managed to cement its conquests within a couple of generation by “Romanising” the local elites. This is another theme that runs across the book and is associated with the somewhat tense relations that Ferox has with at least some of the condescending Roman officers. Other features also show the multinational nature of the Empire’s army, particularly those relating to the auxiliary units in general, and to the Tungrians and Batavians in particular. There are however a couple of features that stretch credulity. One is a reference to a ninety year old Caradoc, still alive and in exile in far-away Rome.

Another is about a certain Batavian still serving as a gallant cavalryman decades after events that brought him to fame but which he survived and after which he disappeared. Since this Batavian would have been nearing seventy by the time of this novel, his very much displayed prowess and fighting skills are somewhat dubious.

All in all, this was a great read and an exciting one, despite a few glitches. Four strong stars and I am very much looking forward to reading the follow-up.

I will admit to being apprehensive when I purchased this book. I enjoy Goldsworthy as a historian, but I was unsure how I would feel about him as a novelist. Now, I am so glad that I took the chance. Certainly, Goldsworthy is an authority on Ancient Rome, and he draws on this immense knowledge to transport his readers to first-century Britain. The author develops the characters of Flavius Ferox and Sulpicia Lepidina well as they traverse the northernmost regions of the Empire in an effort to foil the evil designs of a murderous druid. I could not put this book down, and I look forward to the next installment!

As a published historical novelist I enjoyed this one a lot. My only objection was the graphic depiction of slash and stab warfare. It's like the film Braveheart where the blood was a bit too much. I'm going to read it again soon and see if I can like the characters a bit better. We shall see.

This may be Mr. Goldsworthy's first novel, but you'd never know it from the deftness with which he draws characters, plot, and settings in VINDOLANDA. It's a special treat for Romanophiles that he knows so much about the army and its auxiliaries, and makes such well-educated surmises about life among the Britons of the day. A very highly recommended novel from the author of so many noteworthy nonfiction books about Rome.

As someone who has recently immersed himself in Roman history, I enjoyed this book a lot. Because of the author's expertise as a historian of the Roman Republic and Empire. I trusted the wealth of detail he employs to make the story come alive. There are, however, lots of terms that only specialists in Roman history would understand. Readers need to know in advance that inconspicuously tacked on to the end of the book is a very helpful glossary. This being a novel and accordingly there being no table of contents, one could read through to the end of the book before finding it. Early on the expression "omnes ad stercus" is exclaimed by a legionary and is subsequently used several more times. . I could have saved myself a trip to Google had I known there was a glossary which explained the meaning better than the online translation. Also a map would have been nice for non-Brit readers. That being said, I have already pre-ordered the sequel.

don’t like his writing style. he jumps all over the place. i can’t believe this book got such good reviews.

This book should appeal to younger audiences, as well as those interested in the period of history. The actions scenes are well written, but there are a lot of them. The mysterious quality of the book hooked me early on; however, the characters were so flat that I stopped caring before the finale. However, Goldsworthy handles the setting expertly, and this should make the book interesting to anyone trying to understand the Roman army, and what life might have been like on the frontier.

I am a bit biased as I have read some of Goldsworthy's history books on the Roman military and empire, and have always enjoyed them. I enjoyed Vindolanda tremendously - it's a quick, breezy read but still comes across as grounded in its subject matter and authoriative. I have always been interested in ancient Britain as well, and Druids, and Goldsworthy's portrayal of both is excellent. I don't know enough to judge how accurate they are, but it doesn't really matter to me as I found it very enjoyable and entertaining.

I am excited to see Goldsworthy branching in to fiction too. Until now my favorite ancient Roman novelist has been Harry Sidebottom. He still is, but Goldsworthy is coming up strong with Vindolanda. If the next book in the series has the same high quality as this first installment, readers will only benefit from a competition between Goldsworthy and Sidebottom!

If you have even a casual interest in Roman history, British history, the Roman military, druids, ancient military tech, or any combination of these things, you will not be disappointed in Vindolanda.