Ruth Downie on resources for Roman Britain

If you're interested in Roman Britain, Ruth Downie has put on her blog an interesting list of sources for Roman Britain, to which she kindly added my own random comments about historical research.

Ruth seriously knows her stuff. She writes mysteries set in Roman Britain, starring the somewhat put-upon and incredibly funny Ruso. She's up to book 4. The first is called Medicus, from which we may deduce Ruso is a doctor. Some of his historically accurate prescriptions have to be read to be believed. It's a good thing Ruso and Nico will never work together, because it would be...utter...chaos.

6 comments:

Sarah W said...

The fan in me would love a time travel crossover with Nico and Ruso, even if it was just a brief conversation . . .

Such a wonderful personality match! Utter chaos is right!

Geoff Carter said...

Hi Gary,

A perfectly timed post.

I got you back a lttle bit!


http://structuralarchaeology.blogspot.com/2011/04/archaeology-of-perception.html

Gary Corby said...

Sarah, for an example of fiction characters meeting each other...the two best soldier characters of the 19th century are undoubtedly Richard Sharpe, of Bernard Cornwell's brilliant creation, and the hilarious Harry Flashman of George McDonald Fraser. I very much recommend both series.

Sharpe is strictly Napoleonic and Flashman begins his career well in the Victorian period, so they never met. It would have been highly entertaining if they had, given their polar opposite personalities. It's an open question which would have killed the other first.

I'm working off memory here, but I believe there's a short story in which the father of Flashman recalls having known Richard Sharpe at Waterloo (and called Sharpe a damn dangerous man to know). Flashman in turn crosses paths with Holmes and Watson while lying drunk in the gutter in Baker Street, thus linking more than 100 years of great historical fiction.

Gary Corby said...

Thank you Geoff! I just read it. That's a terrific compliment for any writer of historicals!

Amalia T said...

Thanks for the heads up on this Gary! My husband LOVES Roman Britain, so I've passed the link along to him!

Sarah W said...

Gary,

I'm a huge fan of Cornwell's Sharpe series (though I prefer Patrick, for some reason) and absolutely concur with the elder Flashman.

Thank you for recommending Fraser's series -- those should keep me busy until the next Nico adventure arrives!