Rome, in the 6th Century AD, was a terrifying place to live and no one travelled there unless they had to. For John, the Lord Chamberlain exiled to Greece by the Emperor, it was even more perilous. When word got back to the Emperor, John would be executed for disobeying orders to remain in exile, and in danger of forfeiting his life as a Mithran convert.
You might have passed by the pool without noticing it below the stone bridge where Black Creek cuts under the paved footpath leading through Pinewoods Park to High Street. When we were kids we called it "Bottomless Pool.” We were sure it was haunted.
The year is 548. Under Emperor Justinian, the Roman capitol is now in the Byzantine city of Constantinople. Due to politics and the hatred for him by Empress Theodora, the emperor's Lord Chamberlain, John, is exiled to Greece. John's family once owned a farm near the town of Megara and now he's bought an estate in the region. But, when he and his wife Cornelia arrive they find much has changed in the intervening years.
Perusing the colorless list of occupational codes in the IRS 1040 form instruction booklet, my attention began to wander and I started to think about jobs that were once common street sights.
Some years ago, we learned that a copy of Two For Joy, our protagonist's second novel length adventure, had gone missing from a library out west. We have never been certain whether to consider the event a left-handed compliment from someone who could not bear to part with the book or an act intended to protest against the Michaelites' belief in the Quadrinity rather than the Trinity.
Because she was an employee of We Keep Up Your Spirits Inc., at first no-one took Madam Granowski seriously, even after she dramatically interrupted an afternoon panel on Dyslexic Ouija Boards and What To Do About Them. This she contrived by rushing in screaming about a manifestation in the bathroom before fainting at the foot of the podium. I was there at the time, and it certainly impressed me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Fans of Robert Graves would enjoy this novel. Set in AD548, it was a perilous time for any person within Emperor Justinian’s orbit. Personal attendants had nowhere to hide. Highborn citizens and many in public office found reasons to leave the city, ostensibly to attend to military, political or private matters, but in reality to escape Justinian’s caprices.
