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Everything Old is New Again: Historical Novels Put a Different Spin on the Past

(ARA) — Ego-maniacal and self-serving politicians. Back-stabbing friends and shifting alliances. Escalating political tension and civil war. Extramarital affairs among the rich and powerful. These topics could have been ripped from today’s headlines—or they could be the exploits of real historical figures from ancient Rome: Julius Caesar, Cicero, Pompey the Great, and others who helped shape Western civilization and “preserve” Graeco-Roman culture.

If this sounds more interesting than what you remember from history class, you’re not alone. Many readers are rediscovering the past through the increasingly popular genre of historical fiction. These novels bring characters to life in ways textbooks never did. Thoroughly researched and well written, they offer deeper insight into the era, its people, and its political and cultural complexities.

Benita Kane Jaro is one of a small number of authors who specialize in historical fiction set in ancient Rome. “These books are not just the history of a culture but a reflection of our contemporary current—a world also rife with political machinations, maneuvers, and corruption,” she explains. “Rome was a superpower whose leaders were energetic and creative, even high-minded, but they were human—just like us. There is much to learn, lest we make the same mistakes.”

Jaro has written a trilogy set during the collapse of the late Roman Republic: The Key, The Lock, and The Door in the Wall. These fictionalized memoirs follow Marcus Caelius Rufus, a real historical figure (and the defendant in Cicero’s Pro Caelio), born in 82 B.C. and later a protégé of Julius Caesar. The Lock has just been released in paperback by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers; the other two have also been reissued in paperback.

“I wrote the trilogy out of a deep fascination for this exciting period in Western history—the foundation of so much of our own culture and astonishing in its own right,” Jaro says. “Full of dramatic incident and unforgettable characters, the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Caesars is the best-documented era of history before the 18th century. We have every kind of information—political, cultural, even the most intimate details.”

Though independent as a novel, The Lock continues the rich portrait of the Republic begun in The Key and completed in The Door in the Wall. The major figures of the age appear and reenact their fateful struggles. Readers glimpse the lives of poets, scholars, soldiers, politicians, powerful women, and even slaves.

The Key centers on the love poet Catullus; The Door in the Wall depicts Caesar’s rise to power. Written last but chronologically second, The Lock is built around the letters and speeches of Cicero, many of which Jaro translates dynamically for this volume. The book reexamines Cicero’s life and character—his wit, intelligence, courage, and integrity—revealing him as a hero for our time as well as his own.

All three novels include specially drawn maps of Rome and its empire, along with helpful lists of principal characters and chronologies of events.

Benita Kane Jaro studied painting at The Art Students League and classics at Stanford University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from California State University, Northridge, and an MFA in creative writing from The American University. She has lived, taught, and exhibited her artwork in Mexico, California, Washington, Maryland, and Provence. She is currently working on a novel about Ovid.

For more information on this historical trilogy—The Key, The Door in the Wall, and The Lock—visit www.bolchazy.com. Books are available at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores.

Courtesy of ARA Content, www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent.com