Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [115]
‘Maybe when you’re older,’ said Ian, absent-mindedly as something on the sword’s hilt caught his attention.
Two letters, carved into the metal, almost worn away by the passing of time.
IC.
Ian read the display caption aloud, for his own benefit as much as that of his son.
A GLADIUS, the highly effective short sword used by Roman legionnaires in
combat. The very unusual carved
inscription identifies the weapon as
belonging to a soldier of the 99th Legion, who occupied Biythria and Thrace
(including much of modern Turkey). It
almost certainly dates from the end of the first century AD.
Ian placed his hand on the glass that separated the sword from the outside world, as though he were waving a greeting to an old friend.
‘Come on,’ he told his son. ‘Let’s get back to your mother before we both end up in the doghouse’
‘End of the first century AD?’ Ian mused. ‘It’s nice to know something that they don’t, for once, isn’t it?’
‘How’s that, Dad?’ asked Johnny.
Ian smiled. ‘It’s actually thirty-five years older than that.’
Every Day I Write the Book...
I think it was Kingsley Amis who said, ‘There’s little point in writing if you can’t annoy someone with it’. The author would, as ever, like to thank many friends and colleagues for their invaluable help, encouragement and inspiration: the always-reliable Ian Abrahams (whose impressive feminist critique of The King of Terror has, I hope, been addressed here), Jinny Algar, Greg Bakun, Ness Bishop (for a couple of brilliant chapter title suggestions), Wendy and Paul Comeau, Neil Connor (who fixed my knackered floppy disc-drive), Chris Cornwell, Andy Cowper, Martin Day (honest and appreciated advice as always), Rob Francis, Robert Franks, Jeff Hart (who named all the stars), Tony and Jane Kenealy, Theresa Lambert, Mike Lee and the rest of the Minneapolis CONvergence possé, Mr Kimblew of Cambridge, Davie and Lesley Mclntee, John McLaughlin, Ingrid Oliansky, Lars Pearson, Mark Phippen, Tammy Potash (just lurv that name), my editor Justin Richards and Sarah Lavelle at the BBC, Camilla Rockwood, Paul Simpson,Victoria Sorel (at least I can spell ‘Tegan’, sweetie!), Kathy Sullivan, Suzie Tiller (a diamond of a proof-reader), my brother Colin Topping (‘O’
level expert), Jason Tucker, everyone at Gallifrey One (and especially my wonderful ‘voodoo sisters’, Suze Campagna and Diana Dougherty) and The Neutral Z one and my family (whose occasional, half-interested questions on how the novel was progressing led, more often than not, to blood-curdling if historically accurate descriptions of torture and crucifixion). I would, however, like to assure readers that, despite the evidence of bits of my last two novels, I’m not that interested in graphic and sadistic cruelty...
Not forgetting, of course, Paul and Steady Eddie.
Inspirational figures, both.
Research, inevitably, played a role in the writing of this novel.
I would particularly draw readers’ attention to several source works that helped to provide copious period detail: A History of Bri tain (Simon Schama, London, 2000), An A id t o B ible Understanding (International Bible Students Assoc., New York, 1969), Atlas of t he B ible an d Christianity (Tim Dowley
[ed], London, 1999), Backgrounds of E arly Christianity (Everett Ferguson, Michigan, 1993), Byzantium, t he Empire of the New Rome (Cyril A. Mango, London, 1980), Everyday Life i n B yzantium (Tamara Talbot Rice, New York, 1967), Goddesses, Wives, Whores and Slaves: The Role of Women in Classical Antiquity (Sarah B. Pomeroy, New York, 1975), Istanbul, the Imperial City (John Freely, London, I 998), Jesus and the Zealots (S.G. Brandon, Manchester, 1967), Sexual Life in Ancient Greece (Hans Licht, London, 1949), The Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and Roman Age (M.P. Nilsson, Lund, 1957) and The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries AD ((L Webster, London, 1969). Plus the invaluable Discovery and History Channels and the gratefully acknowledged inspiration of