The First Man in Rome, which was the initial book in this projected series of novels, laid in the backdrop of an alien world. After it, I am obliged by the sheer length of this project to restrict my detail to what is necessary to advance characters and plot—both of which, being history, are in one sense already established.
Wherever possible, anachronisms are avoided; but sometimes an anachronistic word or phrase is the only way to get one’s point across. There are not many. What I would like my readers to know is that each one of them has been carefully considered before being resorted to. I am, after all, writing in English for an audience separated by two thousand years from the people and events which make up these books; even the greatest of the modern scholars on the period has occasionally to resort to anachronisms.
The Glossary that follows has been rewritten. Some items have been removed, others inserted. There are now entries under: Arausio, Battle of; Saturninus; the Gold of Tolosa: all events or people featuring in The First Man in Rome, now become part of history as far as events and people in The Grass Crown are concerned.
Some of the drawings are repeated, as these characters are still important. Others have been added. The likenesses of Marius, Sulla, King Mithridates, and Young Pompey are authentic, the others taken from anonymous (that is, unidentified) portrait busts of Republican date. As no portrait busts of famous Republican Romans are known to have been taken in their youth, the drawing of Young Pompey is the first I have “youthened.” It is the famous bust of Pompey in his fifties with the weight of middle age removed and the lines of living taken out of the face. I did this because Plutarch assures us that the Young Pompey was striking and beautiful enough to remind his contemporaries of Alexander the Great—very difficult to see in the likeness of the middle-aged man! However, once the extra thirty-odd pounds are removed, one can discern a very attractive young man.
The style of the maps has changed somewhat. One learns by experience and actually has the opportunity to mend earlier style mistakes, a luxury open to me because I am writing sequentially.
A word about the bibliography. For those who have written to me (care of the publisher) requesting a copy—do not despair! It is coming, if it has not already arrived. The trouble is that I have produced two novels—each over 400,000 words in length and drafted several times—within twelve months of each other. Spare time is not something I have had, and the formal compilation of a bibliography is a daunting task. Hopefully now done with.
I must thank a few people by name, and others too numerous to single out by name. My classical editor, Dr. Alanna Nobbs of Macquarie University, Sydney. Miss Sheelah Hidden. My agent, Frederick T. Mason. My editors, Carolyn Reidy and Adrian Zackheim. My husband, Ric Robinson. Kaye Pendleton, Ria Howell, Joe Nobbs, and the staff.