Centred on the historical court poet Claudian, here genuinely infatuated with the deeds of the general Stilicho, the Last Roman. Who wasn't Roman by nativity and few of the main cast are. Claudian and his conscience-stricken judge were Egyptian with Egyptian names, but Roman by conviction or by social climbing or an interesting tangle of both.

This is a nicely structured short novel, around a court case for pagan practice, told from several perspectives. The Dutch title translates as A Newer Testament – a pity to lose that – testaments are a theme. The perverts were a bit gaudy but she has the excuse of publication date. I'm not sure the end did it justice, but I say that of 90% of ends.

It must be the only novel about Claudian? I've only heard him aspersed as a Silver Latin poet, or were they into Tinsel by the 400s? – and made mock of in Napier's Attila. Napier quotes a swathe of authentic Claudian, flattery of the emperor, and I confess it was hilarious. This is a more serious novel. ( )

This novel is set during the cataclysmic transformation that accompanied the death of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the middle ages when the Christian Church stamped out the vestiges of Roam cultural and religious heritage.It was Theodosius in the late 4th century that mandated trinitarianism and struck down all pagan forms of worship. He hastened the fall of Rome by splitting the empire into two sections, leaving his inheritance to two sons, both incompetent: Honorius ruled in the West; Arcadius in Constantinople. The hostility between the two malcontents forms the backdrop for the novel which begins and ends in the year 414 A.D. although flashbacks take it back further.

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, is a prominent character. By thwarting Theodosius's demands for restitution to Jews for their destroyed property -- Theodosius protected Jews -- Ambrose began the struggle between the state and religious authority for supreme power. Ambrose and Hadrian, an ex-Roman civil administrator both view the world through restricted vision which was to become the predominant view for many centuries thereafter. These views are reflected by the drama surrounding a Roman who is arrested for ostensibly conducting archaic and illegal religious celebrations.

( )

This one was fantastic! Not a book of 'action', except in the memories expressed by two of the main characters, Prefect Hadrian
and the poet, Claudius Claudianus. Hadrian presides at the trial of a man accused of holding pagan rites in his home and the poet, who conducted ther decapitation of a cock. The novel takes off from there. It is more of a thoughtful novel. I loved the author's character psychology and her vivid descriptions. ( )

Zo intelligent, zo erudiet. Eindelijk weer eens een boek dat je uitdaagt: Denk! Volg mij! Houd je hoofd erbij!
Na een wat stroef begin ontvouwt zich soepel een gelaagd verhaal. Strakke compositie, heldere stijl.
Met haar materiaal, met haar ideeën had elke andere schrijver meer dan 500 pagina's gevuld. Zij niet. Zij heeft er maar 145 nodig.
Een vol boek, ja, maar zeker niet te vol.
Volgens Ger Groot het boek waarmee/waarom Hella Haasse beroemd had moeten worden.