Roma (2007 novel)
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| Author | Steven Saylor |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 592 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | Empire |
Roma is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 2007. The story follows two ancient Roman families, the Potitii and Pinarii, as members of successive generations bear witness to, as well as participate in, some of Rome's greatest historical events. The epic style is similar to James Michener's historical novels. The story takes Roman myths and intertwines them with historical facts and fictional characters.
Roma was followed in 2010 by a sequel, Empire.
There were several traditions attached to the Pinarii. The first held that a generation before the Trojan War, Hercules came to Italy, where he was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii. He taught them a form of worship, and instructed them in the rites, by which he was later honored. For centuries, these families supplied the priests for the cult of Hercules, until the Potitii were wiped out in a plague at the end of the 4th century BC
The extinction of the Potitii was frequently attributed to the actions of Appius Claudius Caecus, who (in his censorship in 312 BC.) directed the families to instruct public slaves in the performance of their sacred rites. Supposedly the Potitii were punished for their impiety in doing so, while the Pinarii refused to relinquish their office, which they held until the latest period.
Another tradition asserts that until their extinction, the Potitii were always superior to the Pinarii in the performance of their sacrum gentilicum, because at the sacrificial banquet given by Hercules, the Pinarii did not arrive until after the entrails had been eaten. In anger, Hercules declared that the Pinarii should be excluded from partaking of the entrails of the sacrifice, and that in all matters relating to the worship they should be inferior to their brethren.
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