Elisabeth Storrs Historical Novels
Ancient Roman Historical Fiction
Through the female characters in my ‘A Tale of Ancient Rome’ series, I explore the lives of women in the ancient world. One of my favourite characters in The Wedding Shroud is Erene, the Cretan courtesan who teaches the naïve Roman protagonist, Caecilia, to enjoy the freedoms afforded to Etruscan women rather than cling to the ‘virtues’ taught to her… read more
I’m delighted to announce that I’ve released Dying for Rome: Lucretia’s Tale, the first story in a new collection entitled Short Tales of Ancient Rome, in which I retell the legends and history of Rome from a fresh perspective. Dying for Rome: Lucretia’s Tale retells the historic story of the tragic girl whose death inspired the men of Rome to… read more
There is a tale told by Herodatus, the famous Greek historian, about a wily prince called Tyrrhenus who saved his people by encouraging gambling. The story goes like this. Once in the land of Lydia there came a time when the harvest could no longer fill the bellies of all. So the king cast half his subjects, led by his… read more
Over the last couple of years, many of you have been kind enough to express an interest as to when the sequel to The Wedding Shroud will be available. I’m now happy to announce that I plan to release The Golden Dice on 3 July. It’s been a roller coaster for me during this time as the contract with my… read more
The Death of Tarpeia The tales of famous Roman women such as Lucretia and Virginia serve to reinforce the stereotypes of the ‘matron’ and the ‘virgin’ as exemplars of Roman virtues. Both these women died tragically: one defending her family’s honour by suiciding, the other murdered by her father for the same purpose. Their deaths were seen as catalysts for… read more
‘Tarchon pointed to the eagle as it soared into the stillness. ‘An eagle brought a sign to Tanaquil that her husband would be King of Rome.’ Caecilia refused to look at the bird, not wanting to hear another of Tarchon’s tales, especially about an Etruscan woman who became a Roman queen.’ The Wedding Shroud As can be seen from the… read more
Does this picture look familiar? No, it’s not Lucretia (Dying for Rome) but this woman’s story is depressingly similar to that of the tragic Roman matron who was raped by an Etruscan prince. She is Virginia, whose death, just like Lucretia’s, was the catalyst for significant change in Rome. The image is deceptive, though, because the man stabbing her is… read more
The women of the early Roman Republic were definitely second class citizens (see Damn Whores or God’s Police). It is interesting, though, that two of them, Lucretia and Virginia, were catalysts for significant changes in early Roman history. While the existence of these women is debatable, their legends have been passed down through the ages as examples of the Roman… read more
One of the main themes of my book is the exploration of the lives of women in the classical period of C5th and 4th BCE through the characters of a Roman girl, Greek slave, Cretan courtesan and Etruscan matron. So what was the status and role of these women in classical times? In both Greece and Rome they were chattels… read more
As well as the ability to interpret the future from lightning bolts, the Etruscans also observed the flight of birds for the purposes of divination. The process of interpreting the patterns of flight was known as taking the auspices (literally ‘looking at birds’). As was the case with understanding lightning portents, the sector of the sky where a bird flew… read more
