Threshold Of Fire: A Novel Of Fifth Century Rome (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Actually 4.5 stars but I rounded it up to 5. I was really engrossed in this one and had to keep reading until the finish. I read it aloud to make it last, so I could linger over every word. I was sorry when it did end. The author's writing was nothing short of brilliant. There was no violent 'action' but somehow this one moved me, through the author's powerfully giving us the psychology of her characters. Her descriptions of Egyptian, Alexandrian, Roman life [from the Hall of Justice to the squalor of the Subura to the Tullianum] were very well crafted.The year is 414 AD. The state religion is Christianity. The Goths have invaded. Rome is on a downward spiral. The Prefect of the City, Hadrian, is a fanatical Christian Egypto-Roman. He is hearing the case of a patrician pagan, Marcus Anicius Rufus. Anicius is accused of permitting pagan rites in his home. Hadrian questions a man who calls himself Nilicias, accused of actually conducting the pagan ceremony, decapitation of a cock. At the dinner beforehand, a slimy actor and his mime troupe performed some of the pagan myths. Since the Empire is officially Christian, pagan rites are forbidden. In the course of the interrogation, Nilicias answers the prefect: "I swear I have never sacrificed a cock unless it was in your presence." This statement brings back Hadrian's memories of his boyhood in Egypt. He remembers a cock being killed by the illegitimate grandson of the rich landowner, Eliezar ben Ezekiel and the blood on the boy's hands. The younger Hadrian had visited Eliezar many times when he was in Egypt. The grandson is sent to Alexandria to study, then becomes a court poet with the Latinized name of Claudius Claudianus. Ten years before, he had insulted Hadrian in one of his epigrams. As a result, Hadrian had "excluded him from fire and water", essentially, banished him. Should he re-enter Rome anyone was permitted to kill him. The poet did come back under an alias. He barely scraped out an existence teaching Subura residents their letters. Hadrian runs across this same verse in Anicius's confiscated documents. His discovery calls up ghosts from the past. Politics of that time involving the weak and ineffectual Emperor Honorius and his guardian, General Stilicho, take up a big part of the novel. The novel alternates between the Prefect and Claudius and their memories and dreams, circling back to the Prefect, who must render a final verdict. The black and white marble floor in the courtroom or Eliezar's chess set expresses the idea that no character in the novel is completely black or white. The psychological delineation of these fully-rounded characters was mesmerizing. The description of the murder of Stilicho was excellent. The Introduction was invaluable for an overview of that period and of the novel. Highly recommended for those who like fiction set in the latter days of the Roman Empire. The non-military and thoughtful nature of this novel sets it apart from most Roman historical fiction.
This is a novel set in the waning years of the Western Empire, the late 5th c. Christianity has become the official imperial religion, and Vandals, Egyptians and other non-Romans are increasingly an integral part of Roman governance. The many changes in aristocratic society have been resisted by some--and it is in one patrician's resistance to Christianity in favor of traditional sacrificial rites that provides the plot. What was the nature of Anicianus' party? Did he break imperial law by sacrificing a chicken? Who else was involved? What does this have to do with the weak emperor Honorius living in Milan/Ravenna? The point of view of the Egyptian-Roman prelate who is trying the case provides the bookends--and much of his point of view is described in terms of his own insecurity as a Roman citizen born in Egypt. In the middle is situation recounted by the poet Claudius Claudianus, (a former Egyptian slave) who had been sentenced to life "without water or fire" ten years before the event in question for a politically sensitive poem he wrote, but whose knowledge of the imperial court and the Anicii family provides an alternative view of the context leading up to the event in question. It has taken me more than a few pages to fully grasp the psychological differences between some of the characters presented. The way in which Haasse unfolds the story through the insecurities and memories of her main characters can be confusing--but I think therein lies the potential draw and power of her writing. Nothing is clear, nothing is black and white. There is no true reality--it is made up of the views of individuals, themselves shaped by capricious fate and events over which they had/have no power. While some of these recounting-of-life-stories gets a little long, they are punctuated by passages of literary beauty in the form of philosophical musings--the clarity of the text reflects the clarity of the character's mind.I think one would have to really want to read about 5th c. Rome to get into this book--but if one is able to slow down, and appreciate Haasse's rejection of a formulaic and linear story for a--dare I say real--reflection of humanity, it's an interesting read. Not one for the airport probably, but it's been good for a few pages here and there before bed.
What do You think about Threshold Of Fire: A Novel Of Fifth Century Rome (2005)?
Niet eenvoudig dit boek om te lezen. Ik heb het nu uit en ook het einde blijft raadselachtig. Zelden vertelt Haasse hoe het afloopt en ook deze keer moet de lezer raden. Ik ga het voor de bespreking nog een keer lezen, omdat het een boek is dat je na een keer lezen nog niet helemaal kunt doorgronden. Het heeft gelukkig maar 150 pagina's. Het onderwerp is interessant en speel in Rome. Geschiedenis dus en een van de items is de heidense gebruiken t.o. het christendom. Een interessant onderwerp daar we in deze tijd heel wat clashes meemaken met verschillende godsdiensten.
—Ineke
This novel is set during the cataclysmic transformation that accompanied the death of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the middle ages when the Christian Church stamped out the vestiges of Roam cultural and religious heritage.It was Theodosius in the late 4th century that mandated trinitarianism and struck down all pagan forms of worship. He hastened the fall of Rome by splitting the empire into two sections, leaving his inheritance to two sons, both incompetent: Honorius ruled in the West; Arcadius in Constantinople. The hostility between the two malcontents forms the backdrop for the novel which begins and ends in the year 414 A.D. although flashbacks take it back further.Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, is a prominent character. By thwarting Theodosius's demands for restitution to Jews for their destroyed property -- Theodosius protected Jews -- Ambrose began the struggle between the state and religious authority for supreme power. Ambrose and Hadrian, an ex-Roman civil administrator both view the world through restricted vision which was to become the predominant view for many centuries thereafter. These views are reflected by the drama surrounding a Roman who is arrested for ostensibly conducting archaic and illegal religious celebrations.
—Eric_W
Hella Haasse’s Threshold of Fire is a slender little book, just a handful of characters, half a dozen locations, no longer than a novella. Besides that, it’s a translation. But do not think it is a trifle.It is Roman historical fiction set at the collapse of the Empire, but it is much more than that. That can be diagrammed linearly. Threshold beats with the quivering heart of a rabbit in panic. Much is delineated in broad strokes. Much more shudders unspoken. It is a work of the highest poetry. I stand in awe of it, the work of genius. It will haunt me till I breathe no more. Do I understand it? Maybe a little. Does the author understand it? Maybe a little. Can it be pegged? No. But having read it, my life will never be the same.
—Vann Turner
