Thank you for reading! I enjoyed exploring the Rome of the early nineteenth century in Captain Lacey’s footsteps. The time between Napoleon’s invasion and the Risorgimento in the 1860s is an interesting one, and an era of great change. In Captain Lacey’s time, Italy was a series of independent states, many ruled by foreign powers, the Kingdom of Italy not created until 1861. Napoleon had attempted to unify the peninsula (with himself in charge, of course), but at his defeat, Italy fragmented again, many of his reforms set aside. The seeds had begun, however, for the Italian states to join, rid themselves of foreign kings, and become one country.
Rome is an amazing city, as Donata calls it “vibrant and robust. So many eras in history, and yet the people here live firmly in the present.”
I found that to be true. I was enchanted with Rome, astonished by it. It was nothing at all what I expected, and at the same time, everything I’d hoped for. If you go, prepare to spend time there, a week at the very least, to absorb all you can. I recommend visiting in September or October—the weather is excellent and the huge crowds have mostly dispersed. (It will still be crowded, but less so.)
I have stayed near the Piazza Navona, and so set the story in and around that area, as I came to know it well. The Piazza itself is a beautiful space to simply spend time in, watching Rome go by. And of course, the ancient ruins are not to be missed. I highly recommend a tour of the Colosseum that allows you to go underneath it, into the corridors and cells in which the gladiators, prisoners, and animals were kept.
If you enjoy stories set in Rome, please have a look at my series set there in the time of Nero, featuring Leonidas, a freed gladiator. The first book is Blood of a Gladiator, in which Leonidas, finding himself freed from the games, searches for a way to keep himself. He’s given a slave, Cassia, who is a scribe, to help him, and together they find themselves embroiled in murder and intrigue, as well as coming under the scrutiny of Nero himself.
Captain Lacey will now return to London for more adventures with his family and friends.
Best wishes,
Ashley Gardner