Una gran obra de Silverberg, a pesar de muchas opiniones en contra. El elemento de ciencia ficción está muy diluído, pero es que se trata de una historia alternativa en la cual el cristianismo "no se produce", y entonces, tenemos a un Imperio romano que supervive hasta el presente... con altas y bajas.Creo que el elemento que muchos han criticado (el hecho de que los acontecimientos ocurran de manera muy lenta, y que el Imperio aparezc como omnipresente, al punto que emperadores cuyas vidas han transcurrido milenios atrás siguen siendo admirados y recordados por los romanos de la posteridad), es precisamente el que le da al libro un sabor característico y singular. Qué importa que la historia que conocemos acabe "repitiéndose" en ese mundo de Pax Romana, con sus guerras contra los bárbaros, renacimiento, descubrimiento de América, revoluciones francesa y soviética inclúídas... El hecho es que, al no desaparecer nunca el Imperio Romano, la noción de su eternidad y permanencia (y sentido de necesidad histórica) llega a convertirse en un elemento sine qua non del mundo descrito por Silverberg, y en consecuencia, consigue hacer plausible esa lentitud del paso de la historia, ese perpetuo mirar en el pasado que es al mismo tiempo presente, por que, de otro modo, ¿cómo podríamos hablar de una Roma Eterna? Sin otro "poder universal" que se le oponga (léase cristianismo, islamismo o creencia masiva que ofrezca una real alternativa a un mundo imperial, a una eterna pax romana), ¿qué podría impedir su supervivencia? Otro factor que me ha hecho gustar de este libro es, quizá, la lejanía. Entiendo que mis amigos españoles, herederos mas bien directos de la cultura romana y por ende, mejores conocedores de la misma, encuentren fallos y puntos débiles en la ucronía creada por Silverberg. Pero viviendo en Perú (a, qué delicioso error de Silverberg en darle un nombre latino al Tawantinsuyo), la Nueva Roma, el nuevo mundo siempre desorganizado, tan falto de esa pax romana, el libro ofrece más que sueños de grandeza (y decadencia), nos muestra justamente eso que tal vez conocimos con Pachacutec o Tupac Inca Yupanqui, pero de lo que no se tiene memoria...
I would have given this three stars but for the ending. Despite its dense prose and self-satisfied narrative, there was a lot to like about this. Alternate history is an extremely intriguing genre to me, and the premise here--that the Roman empire never collapsed and just continued to grow--was especially fascinating (considering I am in the middle of the second season of the HBO show about Rome!). Each chapter takes place in a different time period, explaining how this version of Rome differs from actual history: the Goths were completely defeated, for instance, Mohammed died before he was able to spread his message throughout Arabia, and the Jewish exodus was unsuccessful, leaving the Jews out of Canaan and, apparently, preventing the eventual birth of Jesus and spread of Christianity.Throughout the centuries, Silverberg had Rome go through its ups and downs: wars, the return to a Republican state of government, even its own version of France´s Reign of Terror. And I was with him, despite how slow the prose was getting. And then, in the very last chapter, he dropped the ball. He took a cheap shot and got preachy, essentially jump-starting Christianity from a different inception in order to save the increasingly immoral Roman Republic. It was unnecessary and very heavy-handed, and it was a huge disappointment to wade through nearly four-hundred pages only to be essentially lectured to, in a metaphorical sense, on the very last pages.
What do You think about Roma Eterna (2004)?
What an interesting premise: that the Roman Empire did not fall. There are a few historical names from history we will recognize, but mostly there are a bunch of made up Roman names (very inventive, too) to go with the centuries where, to our minds, the Roman Empire really didn't exist any more. Another interesting premise is the use of the Roman calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy trip into the past, right up to our modern day. An interesting aspect of his list of religions, mostly what we deem pagan in this day and age, did include Judaism but not Christianity.
—Phyllis Gauker
I tend to associate Silverberg with grand-scale world-building, and that works just as well in an alternate history as it does in far-future or entirely fictional worlds. Very thorough and very well thought out. In particular, relative to a lot of alternate histories Silverberg doesn't spend too much time belaboring the divergence with real history-- the book covers 1500 years, but the actual split is well before even the prologue. There's only one specific, recognizable personage from real history within the main frame, and he's both early enough and from far enough outside the Roman sphere of influence not to be too contrived.Instead what's interesting are the parallels to real history-- what might it be about the Renaissance, or the Terror, or the Industrial Revolution, that came about the way it did because of the way people and governments in general behave, rather than just the particular circumstances of the time and place.This is more than just a historical musing, though. The characters from each era have depth, variety, and some reason to be writing their experiences down-- they're more than just talking heads to fill out the timeline.I suppose it may be in the nature of a high-quality history that it's hard to tie off, but I did have some reservations about the way the book ended. I'm not quite sure how to read the implications, but at any rate they seemed a little sudden and a little heavy-handed relative to the rest of the book. This may be another that I'll need to come back to later to really make a full appraisal.
—Ratiocination
Roma Eterna (Roma Aeternam in the french edition, which I find makes more sense) is an uchronia which is a hypothetical or fictional time-period of our world, in contrast to altogether fictional lands or worlds (thanks wikipédia because I wouldn't have been able to explain this properly in english... sometimes I just miss french ^^). Silverberg just took the idea of an everlasting Roman Empire. Since I love everything from that period I was seduced by the idea, unfortunately, Silverberg should have took more time and, maybe, more books, to perfect the all new world that he was presenting to us. I wanted more about those incredible aspects of what an "eternal" Pax Romana could have brought to the world: no monotheists religions, the discovery of America in a new light, a new form of italian etc. Really interesting. I was just hoping for even more.
—Lydzi
