When in Rome . . .

In January, I think, I handed in my latest novel which is set in Rome. The manuscript came back in February, and I set about making it better per my editor’s notes.

It’s a story about a young woman who ages from 18-22 in the book, and a young man who ages from 22-26. Neither of them are married, which suited the story because they have to get together at the end, you see. (I’m sure you figured that out).

But during the revisions, I learned that in Ancient Rome, all women of childbearing age HAD to be married. If you were widowed, you had to marry again within two years. The same for men–if you were young and, um, viable, you had to procreate and create little Romans!

(Can you imagine if we had the same laws today? Instead, today’s world is doing the opposite. But I digress.)

So I had to do some reworking to figure out how the officials even knew if someone hadn’t married, etc. And how were they punished if they refused to marry? Interesting stuff–so much so that I didn’t mind doing all that rewriting.

The Romans had those marriage laws because, on the surface, they wanted to appear to be pro-family. But underneath it all was the very real fear that the imported slaves were going to overrun them. A single family of five in the city of Rome could have 200 slaves, and only strict laws and benign treatment could prevent slave uprisings.

The Romans fascinate me–they were the first to establish representative rule of the people in their senate, but their Imperial period only illustrated the principle that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In any case, THE DAUGHTER OF ROME will release in Spring/Summer 2025. But for your reading pleasure, THE SISTERS OF CORINTH, book two in the series, releases on May 21. I hope you’ll check. it out!

Are you as fascinated by the Romans as I am? What strikes you about them?

~Angie