Beware the Ides of March

 “The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones.”

― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Today is the Ides of March. On this day in 44 B.C., the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar - the first, but certainly not the last Roman emperor -  was assassinated in the senate, stabbed fatally, twenty-three times, by his own senators. An event, a power struggle, a story, that has inspired quite a bit of my writing, here in the year 2024, even in the smallest of ways. There is a certain flavor of Rome in my Drake Chronicles, and references made even in Dartmoor. 

And then, of course, there's the Sons of Rome. Which I haven't worked on since 2019 - *ducks tomatoes* - and which I'm feeling very nostalgic about today. Something I've loved doing with that series is taking deep dives into contentious historical leaders which public opinion seems to have come to a conclusion about; I've loved researching, trying to dig out the true stories behind the myths, and then bringing those figures to life as walking, talking, breathing, fighting characters made of flesh and blood and emotional decisions. We've explored Vlad Tepes at length so far, and learned a little of the fabled Robin Hood. Lionheart, which is another beast of a book comparable to Dragon Slayer, focuses on the notorious Richard I, the Lionhearted, of England. We've glimpsed Romulus and Remus in Valerian's memories, but we haven't actually been to Rome yet in the series. We haven't gotten to see Caesar, and I intend to take us there. 

If I ever get around to it. Lionheart is a wildly ambitious project I've kept on the shelf the last few years for financial reasons, trying to keep the books coming rather than immerse myself in the tangled research and notes and long days of story crafting that Lionheart is going to require. I do so want to write it, though. And the next book, and the next. I want us to get to Rome. To the Campus Martius, and a final showdown for the ages. 

Now I've made myself sad. There's a part of me - a small, ill-advised part - that almost wants to do Lionheart on Wattpad, just to keep plugging away at it, and to offer it up a little at a time, so that at least you're getting some of it. I'm undecided, though. 

If you're looking for a wonderful Caesar biography, I can't recommend Adrian Goldsworthy's enough. And The Roman Way by Mythology author Edith Hamiliton is a lovely look at Roman customs and beliefs.