Betray the Night: A Novel about Ovid - Softcover

Benita Kane Jaro

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0865167125 ISBN 13: 9780865167124

Publisher: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2009

Synopsis

In the year 8 AD, at the age of fifty, the most famous poet in Rome, Publius Ovidius Naso, known to us as Ovid, is suddenly exiled by the Emperor Augustus for an unknown reason. His young and beautiful wife Pinaria stays behind to try to salvage something of their lives and to work to bring him home. A woman alone, she is handicapped by the powerlessness of her position. It is not until she leaves behind the world of men to search among the people Rome has forgotten: the women, the slaves, the runaways and temple prostitutes, that she begins to understand what has happened to her life and her husband s, and what the world around her really is.

Historically accurate, deeply researched, and poetically written, Betray the Night is a sympathetic reading of the position of women, and a study of the terror of power. Exciting and fast moving, it may be read as on its own or as a companion to Benita Kane Jaro's trilogy The Key, The Lock, and The Door in the Wall.

Special Features

* Written with scrupulous attention to historical accuracy

* Supplied with reader-friendly aids:
-List of principal characters,
-Chronology of events

* Provides insight into the position of a high-born Roman woman

* Gives an alternate view of Caesar Augustus

* Provides a view of Ovid when relegated

For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology, Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar. We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books.

Some of the areas we publish in include:

Selections From The Aeneid
Latin Grammar & Pronunciation
Greek Grammar & Pronunciation
Texts Supporting Wheelock's Latin
Classical author workbooks: Vergil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, Cicero
Vocabulary Cards For AP Selections: Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Horace
Greek Mythology
Greek Lexicon
Slovak Culture And History

About this title

Review

By the year 8 CE, Augustus Caesar has ruled Rome for over thirty years, and the Republic is slowly becoming an empire. In that year a political conspiracy against Augustus results in the exile of the renowned poet Ovid to the far end of the empire, (Ovid says he was banished for 'a poem and a mistake.') Ovid realizes his only hope of returning to Rome is to leave his wife Pinaria behind to plead his case to Augustus. A good Roman wife, Pinaria obeys and finds herself enmeshed in plots and counterplots as ancient families cling to their fading glory and new men struggle to rise to power. As Pinaria investigates the reasons for her husband's banishment, she finds herself in danger from both political and personal enemies and finds betrayal where she least expects it. Betray The Night is a compelling novel; the atmosphere of fear and repression is almost palpable. Pinaria's growth from a traditional Roman matron, concerned only with the affairs of her household, to a politically and financially savvy woman, is convincing as is the portrayal of ancient Rome in all its glory and squalor. The author's meticulous research never interferes with her ability to tell a page-turner of a story. Fans of HBO's Rome and PBS's I, Claudius should enjoy this book. I have only one real gripe with it: the author's decision to refer to the women of the Augustan house (soon to be the imperial family) as 'princesses.' In a city where a man could be a god, but never king, seeing the word 'princess' used to describe a high-horn Roman lady made me wince every time I saw it. But other than that, it's a terrific read. --Historical Novels Review - India Edghill

Half a century ago, Mary Renault sparked renewed popular interest in ancient Greece with her novels that were beautifully written and historically accurate. The fact that the protagonists were fictional by no means impaired the historical authenticity. Rome has had no such muse until recently. Benita Kane Jaro has written three novels about the last days of the Roman Republic. The Key tells the story of the poet Catullus and his affair with Clodial Lesbia from the point of view of his friend Coelius Rufus (well known to Classics people because of Cicero's speech) defending him against charges brought by Clodial. Coelius Rufus appears again in The Door in the Wall which describes the turbulent decade of the First Triumvirate and the complex and changing relationships. The Lock describes events of this period from the point of view of Cicero, a major figure during that restless period of Roman history. Betray the Night, her fourth work, proposes several possible solutions to one of the oldest literary mysteries - the exile of the Roman poet Ovid to Tomis (Constanza, in modem Romania), the remote end of the Empire, in 8 A.D. Jaro describes with unsparing clarity the temper of Augustus' Principate and the early years of the Common Era. Despite the positive view of his achievement, Rome was a cruel and militaristic place, full of informers, where conspiracies flourished and were ruthlessly put down. Betray the Night tells the story of Ovid's exile, and of Rome, from the point of view of his wife, Pinaria, who has been left behind to look after his affairs and to intercede with the powerful in the city to bring her husband back from exile. All together, it is not a pleasant picture - one of intrigue, betrayals, repression, and fear - at many levels, it is an accurate one. History has been kind to Octavian/Augustus. His forty-six year reign brought peace and stability to Rome after a century of upheaval, but at a price. Too often, death or exile of those suspected of conspiracy befell them, often on the word of a single unreliable informant. Jaro takes us through the palaces and alleyways of Rome as Pinaria searches for the real cause of her husband's exile. All the reasons given by various schol --S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook - Aaron W. Godfrey

This novel is the fourth in a series of historical fiction following Jaro's trilogy The Key, The Lock, and The Door in the Wall which build stories around the lives of Catullus, Cicero, and Marcus Caelius Rufus, respectively. This latest volume revolves around Publius Ovidius Naso, better known simply as Ovid. Like its predecessors, Betray the night is concerned with fleshing out the cultural and political worlds of historical figures whom the reader may know only through the extant literature. Also like its predecessors, the book is easily accessible to the general reader, while providing nuggets of scholarship that will please classicists. It is highly readable, effectively broaching historically disputed issues within the parameters of its storyline.

Overall, the book is well written and enjoyable. The engagement with Roman history is both effective and accurate, and Jaro continues to deserve credit for her novels in this field. While the density of the Roman environment leaves something to be desired, lovers of mystery and Classics will not be alone in finding much to applaud. --Paul Robertson, Brown University, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865167125
• ISBN 13: 9780865167124
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 260