MEMOIRS OF SPURIUS

by D. László Conhaim ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2023

A fictionalized memoir of Spurius Postumius Albinus, a high-ranking Roman politician who faces a threat from the cult of Bacchus.

In the second century B.C.E., Spurius holds the consulship, Rome’s highest political office. The real historical figure is largely remembered for his part in opposing Hannibal’s threat to Rome—particularly during the final eastern campaign that led to Hannibal’s death. In these pages, he’s also unearthed a massive conspiracy against Rome by devotees of the cult of Bacchus, the god of wine. It’s a strange affair that’s grippingly dramatized in this imagining, narrated by Spurius himself. Aebutius, the nephew of a friend of Spurius’ mother, Sulpicia, complains to the consul that his family was victimized by Bacchanalians; the cult tried to forcibly induct him as a means to divest him of his property. At first, Spurius is bewildered; he’s always known the cult to be essentially harmless, a “diversion for lonely women in trying times.” However, further investigation uncovers something far more sinister—the Bacchanalians stage frenzied orgies and then blackmail participants into surrendering their possessions, and they then use their victims to find more unwitting recruits. Spurius finally comes to believe the cultists number in the thousands and pose an existential threat to Rome. He ominously declares: “Never in our nation’s history has there been an evil affecting so many people, so many families. And I warn you that they have not yet perpetrated all the crimes for which they have combined. The evil increases daily.”

Over the course of this novel, Conhaim presents scrupulously rigorous research, a keenly imaginative rendering of what might exist in a gap in available scholarship, and powerfully dramatic writing. Spurius is an able narrator whose political judgements are remarkably sensitive and whose devotion to a Rome spiraling into decay is heartbreaking. In fact, the cult of Bacchus only functions as a “horrible menace to the state” because of its decadence, and Spurius seems to represent the last generation of citizens still committed to old Roman ideals. His combination of wistful nostalgia and fortitude is the heart of this engaging drama. Rome itself is subtly presented as a place that’s vulnerable to cynical cultists because its own moral compass has been compromised—a conclusion that Spurius initially resists: “In my time, Marcus Cato was first to recognize that self-control was slipping in Rome, and chastity was losing its appeal. When he initially bewailed the cult’s sharp rise in popularity, I dismissed his fears that this unseemly movement, much out of keeping with Roman modesty, could become a threat to the established order.” For all his historical meticulousness, the author never forgets that this is a novel, and he avoids burying the reader in minute detail. Still, he paints an illustrative tableau of Rome’s precariousness and the threats posed by Hannibal in the east. Overall, this is an engrossing novel that’s sure to delight enthusiastic students of the Roman Empire and other readers who may be looking for a beguiling story.

A fine amalgam of historical scholarship and literary invention.

Pub Date: April 11, 2023

ISBN: 9780984317547

Page Count: 236

Publisher: Broken Arrow Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2023

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | ANCIENT