Resumo de Romanitas - Sophia;McDougall

Romanitas is the first book of a trilogy that explores the concept of a Roman Empire that never fell, but endured and spread thoughout half of the world. The world is divided between 3 Superpowers - The Roman, Nionian and Sinoan Empires hold absolute sway, and a state of Cold War exists, with the Romans and Nionians eyeing each other warily over the Great Wall of Terranova. The story is set throughout the Roman Empire in the early 21st Century,and establishes three main characters - Sulien, a young British slave who is a prisoner due to be crucified along the banks of the River Thames, Una, his younger sister, who is blessed with the power of reading peoples minds, and Marcus Faustus, the Roman Emperor's nephew and heir to the throne. It begins in Rome, at the funeral of a husband and wife of the Imperial Family - Tertius Novius Faustus Leo and Clodia Aurelia, Marcus' mother and father, who die in a car crash in the Gallic Alps. As in the Roman Empire of antiquity, there is a certain amount of intrigue surrounding the deaths and Marcus finds proof that the death of his parents was no mere accident, in the form ofan assassination attempt on him. Afraid for his life, as the conspiracy spreads to the heart of the Imperial Family itself, he flees Rome to travel incognito, running from one place to another, until he bumps into Una and Sulien in Gaul (modern France). Una by this time has rescued Sulien from crucifixion, and they are on the run themselves, two slaves forever haunted of taking the wrong turn which would lead them to their deaths. When they meet Marcus they are afraid of his ultimate motives, but travel together onward to the Pyrenees, where Marcus has heard of a hidden haven for escaped slaves. The story of the three then develops as Marcus tries to find solid proof of the conspiracy that he can take to the Emperor Titus Novius Faustus Augustus, his uncle,while all the while trying to forget and suppress his aristocratic ways in order to fit in with his adopted role of an escaped slave, and of Una and Sulien,who are still unsure whether to trust the young heir or not, and are caught between helping him in his quest or living out the rest of their lives in hiding but safe. While Una, Sulien and Marcus are in hiding, in the background the larger story of the world is built up. The Roman and Nionian Empires have split the North American continent between themselves, and the Romans have built the Great Wall of Terranova to protect their provinces in Terranova. An arms race and Cold War currently exists between the two Empires, with the Sinoan Empire caught between the two. It is likely this story will be the focus of the second book of the trilogy. One can see the parallels between our world and the world McDougall has created - the Roman Empire we all know about, with it's old provinces of Gaul, Hispania and Britannia etc and the new provinces it never conquered, Scythia, Sarmatia and Persia to name but a few. Nionia in McDougalls world we see as Japan in ours (Nippon/Nionia) and Sina as China. It is clear she has done her research into this trilogy, and there is a useful alternate timeline and map of the world in the book, detailing the history of the Roman Empire and the wars it fought from the point our history seperates from McDougall's. In all, Romanitas is well worth a read by anyone interested in history and alternate futures, and the next book, Rome Burning, should be published by the end of 2006.

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