Of Merchants and Heroes

A compliment: very Mary Renaultesque in the ancient Greek/Roman subject along with the treatment of male/male love, here written about tastefully where it so easily could have been crude. I enjoyed this readable, engrossing novel; even writing style seemed very similar to Ms. Renault's.

In the 3rd century BC, Marcus, a young Roman, travels with his father; they are captured by pirates and his father sacrifices his life to save that of Marcus. Marcus then lives with his uncle, a greedy, selfish merchant, who marries Marcus's mother and gains control of the family estate near Praeneste. Marcus is adopted by his uncle and is disgusted by the man's grossness and concern with money and his petty affairs. Marcus swears revenge on the pirate. show more Will this come to pass? Marcus and a Greek athlete, Menexenos, meet and become close. We see how Marcus matures in the novel from boy to man, over a period of years. Everything is here: love, hate, gentleness, warfare [with Philip V of Macedonia], even philosophy and wisdom put in the mouth of the common sense Menexenos and of the Roman Titus Quinctius.
Although the particular love theme made me uneasy, I appreciate the quality of this story and recommend it. show less

At the end of the wars against Hannibal a young Roman called Marcus and his father are captured by pirates. Marcus's father sacrifices his life to give Marcus a chance to escape. Marcus swears revenge and we follow him as an assistant to his rich merchant uncle/stepfather and as a friend and soldier of the general and politician Titus Quinctius Flamininus until he finally does get his revenge.

An exciting, well-written story that really takes you into the minds and actions of people from a civilization who are the same as us and yet different. A worthy successor who does for the Romans what Mary Renault did for the Greeks. 6 stars out of 5.

Very interesting book about Marcus, man that wowed to avenge his fathers death at the hands of Mediterranean pirates. This will take him on a long voyage - he will take part in actions of Roman Republic against Phillip the Macedonian (the one trying to do the same as his more known predecessor). It is only a year or two after final victory at Zama and Romans are reluctant to engage a new enemy far from their border. During his rise through ranks of Roman army Marcus will come in touch with Greek culture and will be enchanted by it.[return][return]Only thing that annoys me (and not only in this novel but in most new novels describing ancient Greeks ) is heavy accent on homosexuality. Although homosexuality (or pederasty) was really show more common in ancient world (almost entirely among nobility mind you) it had somewhat different meaning in those days than it has today (and not all Greeks, be it nobility or not were homosexual/bisexual).[return][return]Rising ones family (with woman mind you) was always a main priority for any citizen of Greek city-states.[return][return]IMHO when dealing with this aspect of ancient world (note that I don't say Greeks, because this was practiced in many places from Europe to Asia) I think that a wiser way of depicting this would be in a more "camaraderie way" - because main goal of this practice was to build strong relations among men that will fight tomorrow on some strange and unknown field of battle - they are supposed to rely on one another when the (how they say these days) "shit hits the fan".[return][return]Besides this, great novel.[return]Recommended. show less

Very interesting book about Marcus, man that wowed to avenge his fathers death at the hands of Mediterranean pirates. This will take him on a long voyage - he will take part in actions of Roman Republic against Phillip the Macedonian (the one trying to do the same as his more known predecessor). It is only a year or two after final victory at Zama and Romans are reluctant to engage a new enemy far from their border. During his rise through ranks of Roman army Marcus will come in touch with Greek culture and will be enchanted by it.

Only thing that annoys me (and not only in this novel but in most new novels describing ancient Greeks ) is heavy accent on homosexuality. Although homosexuality (or pederasty) was really common in ancient show more world (almost entirely among nobility mind you) it had somewhat different meaning in those days than it has today (and not all Greeks, be it nobility or not were homosexual/bisexual).

Rising ones family (with woman mind you) was always a main priority for any citizen of Greek city-states.

IMHO when dealing with this aspect of ancient world (note that I don't say Greeks, because this was practiced in many places from Europe to Asia) I think that a wiser way of depicting this would be in a more "camaraderie way" - because main goal of this practice was to build strong relations among men that will fight tomorrow on some strange and unknown field of battle - they are supposed to rely on one another when the (how they say these days) "shit hits the fan".

Besides this, great novel.
Recommended. show less

Marcus is a young Roman at the time when Rome's wars against the Carthaginians are drawning to a close. When travelling with his father to see his uncle the ship is taken over by pirates who then proceed to ransom and/or kill the passengers - including Marcus's father. Marcus survives, but only just, and swears to kill the pirate leader.

When finally at home, Marcus's uncle soon decides to marry his mother to settle old debts - Marcus isn't too happy about it but eventually the new stepfather takes him to the Greek city of Tarentum in Italy to assist in his business affairs. There Marcus learns more about things Greek, befriends Titus who is gaining ground in Roman politics, and falls in love with his new Athenian friends, Menexenos. show more Later on, Marcus gets to travel in the Greek world, both for his stepfather and for Titus, and gets to witness Romans fighting to free Greek cities from the rule of Philip the Fifth of Macedon.

I really enjoyed this novel - it was well-written with great set of characters who go through exciting and touching adventures. show less