If I ever make it to Rome, I don't know that I could visit the Colosseum after reading this book. Holy cow, what a blood thirsty lot the Romans were! A UV light (to detect blood) would probably light up the whole arena floor even after all these centuries. The ground has to still be saturated. They showed a reckless disregard for animal and human life for the sole sake of amusement ~ is blood lust an acquired taste??? The descriptions of the many exotic animals that died during their games makes trophy hunting of today (as distasteful as I view that "sport") seem benign and restrained. Where did all those zebras, ostriches, tigers, elephants, etc. come from anyway?? It was illuminating to say the least. Here I thought the colosseum was for glorified gladiators to fight in, with maybe a tiger or two thrown in for extra thrills?
The historical aspect of the reign of Domitian, the last Flavian Emperor, was pretty dark as well. He was not especially a benevolent man, to put it mildly. That history, woven with the fictionalized story around his reign, was (despite the multitudes of killings) absolutely as wonderful as I've come to expect from Kate Quinn. A true sense of life in that time.
Apparently there are three more books in this series and based on 'Mistress of Rome,' I plan to read them all! I guess that's everything you need to know, right??!!
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