Tyrant by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
I bought this a few years ago. I started to read it, and I left it on my shelf. I was upset by the description of a rape and murder of the female lead. I decided to come back to it. I guess I have become a little bit harder
The book is a historical novel. Detailing the rise and fall of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_I_of_Syracuse
Its set in that period, after the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian war, and before the rise of Alexander. It describes the rise of Dionysus, to absolute power.
It is a period of history I would like to know more about. Carthage is challenging the Greeks for control of the Med. Rome has not yet risen. The Gaul’s sack the eternal city off scene. The book contains, a Gallic mercenary as the champion and finally door keeper to the eponymous Tyrant. I was not sure if Askal is a Keltic name, however I digress.
Tiremes are beginning to be replaced by quadremes.Ballista's begin to make their appearance on the battlefields, and armies of Balearic slingers and Keltic mercenaries begin to challenge the hoplites. The writer is not a military historian there, is not pages and pages about how siege weapons work.There are vivid, scenes of the affect of war on the non combatants. There are children being displaced. The Heroine, describes a man, walking with his son, and father from there burning home, as Aeneas. People try and re coccupy a burned city. An old man, chooses to die when his city is lost, rather then flee to the hills
The Italian writer gave affairs an Italian flavour. There is a Mafia analogue. Which the lead character has dealings with. We see something of Scilly, an Island large enough for several cities. The Greeks clustered around the coast. The strange fertile inlands.
The war between the Greeks and Carthaginians over Scilly, spans most of the book.Its twists and turns, become wearisome. More often the not, the Tyrant is foiled by the actions of his superiors, or his underlings. This does give you a sense of the length and duration of the war. It does feel, though that the war has dragged on. Reading about a battle you expect a twist, A betrayal or a sudden storm blowing a fleet of course. Perhaps this is an accurate description of events. Two superpowers Cathage, and the Ancient Greek city of Syracuse are fighting. Neither is able to bring there full strength to bear. Most wars like this, where two giants clash, are often long and inconclusive,
We get a sense that the past is different. The lead character actually marries two women. An Italian scillian, and a Greek Scillican. As part of his scheme to unite Italy. There is a sub plot of the Tyrant having a relationship with a woman who is supposed to impersonate a nymph for religious reasons, and be seduced by passers by. The Scillian mysteries are explored, in a incursion to a mountain village.
Its a decent skimming of the events of the rise of a Tyrant. As usual power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely .The author has started backwards, he believes that too much power is unhealthy. He does not challenge the point that his lead character always makes, is that democracy is not going to be strong enough to control an empire.
I preferred the Greek trader books, by Harry Turtledove, however it is always nice to visit somewhere else.
The book is a historical novel. Detailing the rise and fall of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_I_of_Syracuse
Its set in that period, after the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian war, and before the rise of Alexander. It describes the rise of Dionysus, to absolute power.
It is a period of history I would like to know more about. Carthage is challenging the Greeks for control of the Med. Rome has not yet risen. The Gaul’s sack the eternal city off scene. The book contains, a Gallic mercenary as the champion and finally door keeper to the eponymous Tyrant. I was not sure if Askal is a Keltic name, however I digress.
Tiremes are beginning to be replaced by quadremes.Ballista's begin to make their appearance on the battlefields, and armies of Balearic slingers and Keltic mercenaries begin to challenge the hoplites. The writer is not a military historian there, is not pages and pages about how siege weapons work.There are vivid, scenes of the affect of war on the non combatants. There are children being displaced. The Heroine, describes a man, walking with his son, and father from there burning home, as Aeneas. People try and re coccupy a burned city. An old man, chooses to die when his city is lost, rather then flee to the hills
The Italian writer gave affairs an Italian flavour. There is a Mafia analogue. Which the lead character has dealings with. We see something of Scilly, an Island large enough for several cities. The Greeks clustered around the coast. The strange fertile inlands.
The war between the Greeks and Carthaginians over Scilly, spans most of the book.Its twists and turns, become wearisome. More often the not, the Tyrant is foiled by the actions of his superiors, or his underlings. This does give you a sense of the length and duration of the war. It does feel, though that the war has dragged on. Reading about a battle you expect a twist, A betrayal or a sudden storm blowing a fleet of course. Perhaps this is an accurate description of events. Two superpowers Cathage, and the Ancient Greek city of Syracuse are fighting. Neither is able to bring there full strength to bear. Most wars like this, where two giants clash, are often long and inconclusive,
We get a sense that the past is different. The lead character actually marries two women. An Italian scillian, and a Greek Scillican. As part of his scheme to unite Italy. There is a sub plot of the Tyrant having a relationship with a woman who is supposed to impersonate a nymph for religious reasons, and be seduced by passers by. The Scillian mysteries are explored, in a incursion to a mountain village.
Its a decent skimming of the events of the rise of a Tyrant. As usual power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely .The author has started backwards, he believes that too much power is unhealthy. He does not challenge the point that his lead character always makes, is that democracy is not going to be strong enough to control an empire.
I preferred the Greek trader books, by Harry Turtledove, however it is always nice to visit somewhere else.
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