Peter sez:
>Bad writing on my part. That wasn't the things that he did that I
>was thinking of - I mentioned him worshipping a Syrian Sun God to
>illustrate that although a sun worshipper he did outrageous acts that
>were not required by his religion [lists some rippers!].
OK, I see what you're getting at now.
Peter in response to my recommendation of "Family Favorites" by Alfred Duggan:
>Depends on when it was written, some details are likely to be toned
>down. Graves' Claudius books suffered from a similar problem (but
>the TV series included them in).
First published in 1960. The novel does include most of the outrageous acts you listed (and plenty more besides), though Duggan's narrative style is by no means gratuitously explicit nor excessively clinical. But then, does "Gore Vidal's Caligula" (the novelisation of the film, not penned by him incidentally) yield a better insight into the period and the minds of the protagonists than, say Graves's "I, Claudius", or "Julian" - an ancient Rome novel that Vidal did actually write - just because it features paragraph-long descriptions of Little Boots licking someone's bottom?
BTW, I heartily recommend any of Duggan's historical novels. They might be difficult to find these days, but are well worth a read. My favorite would be "Lord Geoffrey's Fancy", set in c.13th Latin Empire of the Crusaders.
Cheers,
MOB
9 Parker Street, Richmond 3121, Victoria, Australia Home Telephone: +61-3-9428-9048
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