The ’empress from the brothel’, Theodora, led a rather fascinating life to say the least, climbing the ranks of Byzantine society to become one of the most powerful women in the world.
About Mark Newton
The ’empress from the brothel’, Theodora, led a rather fascinating life to say the least, climbing the ranks of Byzantine society to become one of the most powerful women in the world.
Have you read Graves’ Count Belisarius? It is a fictionalised biography of one of Justinian’s generals, with a good view of the court. He based it loosely on the gossip he got from Procopius’ Secret History, but, like I, Claudius, Graves tries to ground it all in a historical context.
It’s on my Amazon wish list – I’ve got Secret History, and have been searching high and low for a non-military biography of Belisarius, but I’m guessing I’ll have to make do with the fiction of Graves!
Hey, Mark. Have you read the Saratine Mosaic duology by Guy Gavriel Kay, a fictionalized version of the events around Justinian’s reign?
I haven’t, no. There’s also a Baen series based around Belisarius, I believe. A good era for fictional plunder…
The series of novels starting with “An Oblique Approach” which combines alternate history, alien invasion and Belisarius. I think there is at least one series which takes his life as a template and puts it in Spaaace.
Ha, that sounds mad. Which reminds me, I need to read Silverberg’s
Roma Eterna at some point.
I read a couple of those novels. Yeah, its absolutely gonzo.