The Roman

The Roman

First UK edition (publ. Hodder & Stoughton, 1966)
Author	Mika Waltari
Original title	Ihmiskunnan viholliset
Country	Finland
Genre	Historical novel
Publisher	WSOY
Publication date	1964
Preceded by	The Secret of the Kingdom

The Roman (original title Ihmiskunnan viholliset, which translates to Mankind's Enemies) is a novel by Mika Waltari published in 1964, and was the last work of Waltari to be published during his lifetime. Set in Rome, the book is a sequel to The Secret of the Kingdom, a novel about the early days of Christianity. The protagonist and narrator is Minutus, the son of Marcus, the main character of the previous novel. Minutus is a Roman citizen striving to survive without political entanglements.

In the novel, Minutus travels from Corinth to Britain, to Rome and then to Jerusalem. Through a boyhood friendship with Nero, he becomes a sometimes advisor, sometimes a tool, and sometimes a fool of the capricious emperor. A cruel fate makes him the commander of the menagerie that supplied the wild animals that tore his firstborn son to pieces, and the book was ostensibly written as a guide for his second son, great-grandson of the Emperor Claudius.

Plagiarism of the novel

In July 2008, news emerged that the novel had been plagiarized by television producer Colin Slater (Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe In Santa) in his novel Lindum Colonia, published in 2003.^[1]

References

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