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The Silver Pigs
''The Silver Pigs'' is a 1989 historical mystery crime novel by English author Lindsey Davis and the first book in the ''Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries'' series. Set in Rome and Britannia during AD 70, just after the year of the four emperors, the novel stars Marcus Didius Falco, informer and imperial agent. The book's title refers to 200-pound lead ingot "pigs" filled with silver ore and stolen from Roman Britain, which feature prominently in the plot. Plot summary This first novel in the ''Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries'' series introduces the main characters as well as establishes relationships that continue and grow throughout the series. Falco stumbles upon a conspiracy in the trading of silver ingots, which results in the death a young girl, Sosia Camillina. Hired by Sosia's uncle, a senator, to find out who murdered her and by the Roman Emperor Vespasian, to uncover the conspiracy, Falco finds himself on the next boat to Britain. Once there he meets a lady way out of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis (born 1949) is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of historical crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire. She is a recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger award. Life and career Davis was born in Birmingham and after taking a degree in English literature at Oxford University ( Lady Margaret Hall), she became a civil servant for 13 years. When a romantic novel she had written was runner up for the 1985 ''Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize'', she decided to become a writer, at first writing romantic serials for the UK women's magazine '' Woman's Realm''. One of these, ''The Bride from Bithynia'', was published in her 2023 collection ''Voices of Rome''. Her dedication of the book '' Rebels and Traitors'' (2009) reads: "For Richard / dearest and closest of friends / your favourite book / in memory", and the author's website relates: "I am still getting used to life without my dear Richard. For those of you who h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equites
The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Description During the Roman Kingdom and the first century of the Roman Republic, legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, who were expected to provide six (hundreds) of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400BC, 12 more of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians (plebeians). Around 300 BC the Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the normal annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 . These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the Centuriate Assembly organisation, and were not granted the same privileges. By the time of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1989 British Novels
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin Wall in November, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the overthrow of the communist dictatorship in Romania in December; the movement ended in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Revolutions against communist governments in Eastern Europe mainly succeeded, but the year also saw the suppression by the Chinese government of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. It was the year of the first Brazilian direct presidential election in 29 years, since the end of the military government in 1985 that ruled the country for more than twenty years, and marked the redemocratization process's final point. F. W. de Klerk was elected as State President of South Africa, and his regime gradually dismantled the aparthei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donal Donnelly
Donal Donnelly (6 July 1931 – 4 January 2010) was an Irish theatre and film actor. Perhaps best known for his work in the plays of Brian Friel, he had a long and varied career in film, on television and in the theatre. He lived in Ireland, the UK and the US at various times, and his travels led him to describe himself as "an itinerant Irish actor". Early life Donal Donnelly was born to Irish parents in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. His father James was a doctor from County Tyrone, and his mother Nora O'Connor was a teacher from County Kerry. He was raised in Dublin where he attended school at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Dublin where he acted in school plays with Milo O'Shea, Eamonn Andrews, Jack MacGowran, Bernard Frawley (Seattle Repertory Co.) and Jimmy Fitzsimons (brother of Maureen O'Hara), under the direction of elocution teacher, Ena Burke. Acting career Stage Donnelly got his start in an amateur group calling itself the Globe theatre Players. It was or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recorded Books
Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an imprint. Recorded Books was founded in 1978 by Henry Trentman, one of the pioneers in the audiobook industry. History Recorded Books was founded in 1978 by Henry Trentman in Charlotte Hall, Maryland. Trentman was a salesman who spent a lot of his time driving and listening to the radio and he believed there was a market for better quality recorded books on cassette tape targeted to commuters. Unlike other audiobooks sold at the time, which were usually abridged to 2–4 hours long, Trentman envisioned unabridged productions of 20 or more tapes which could be rented mail-order, and that would be of high quality sound and professional narrators. The company's first recording was in 1979 as '' The Sea-Wolf'' by Jack London narrated by Fran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritha Goodey
Fritha Jane Goodey (23 October 1972 – 7 September 2004) was a British stage, radio and film actress known for her performance in the film '' About a Boy'' (2002), in which she played one of Hugh Grant's character's former girlfriends. Early life Goodey was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Career Goodey's stage work, most notably with Max Stafford-Clark's Out of Joint touring company, included Nadia in ''Some Explicit Polaroids'' (1999), Odette in '' Remembrance of Things Past'' (2000), Constance Neville in ''She Stoops to Conquer'' (2002) and Mrs. Garrick in ''A Laughing Matter''. She had recently won a coveted role in a revival staging of Terence Rattigan's '' Man and Boy''. Her radio works include '' The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' episode '' The Determined Client'' and Helena Justina in the serialisation of the Falco novel '' The Silver Pigs''. Death Having struggled with anorexia for years, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', Clement Attlee in '' A United Kingdom'', Chief Superintendent Bright in '' Endeavour'', and Major Partagaz in '' Andor''. An associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has performed numerous Shakespearean roles on stage and television. Early life and education Anton Lesser was born in Birmingham on 14 February 1952, the son of David Lesser and his wife Amelia Cohen. He is of Jewish background. He was educated at Moseley Grammar School and at the University of Liverpool, where he earned a degree in architecture in 1973. Lesser went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1974 until 1976, and on graduation in 1977 was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year. His final performance there was as Gethin Price in ''Comedians'' by Trevor Griffiths. Career Lesser was spotted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Authors' Club Best First Novel Award
The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. Winner {, class="wikitable sortable" , +Award recipients ! Year !Author!! Title !! , - ! 1954 , , , ', , , - ! 1955 , , , '' Judith Hearne'', , , - ! 1956 , , , ''Episode'', , , - ! 1957 , , , ''Summer in Retreat'', , , - ! 1958 , , , '' Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'', , , - ! 1959 , , , ''At Fever Pitch'', , , - ! 1960 , , , ', , , - ! 1961 , , , ', , , - ! 1962 , , , ''Gone to Timbuctoo'', , , - ! 1963 , , , ', , , - ! 1964 , , , ''Hot for Certainties'', , , - ! 1965 , , , ''Beggars on Horseback'', , , - ! 1966 , , , ', , , - ! 1967 , , , ''At the Jerusalem'', , , - ! 1968 , , , '' Figures in a Landscape'', , , - ! 1969 , , , ', , , - ! 1970 , , , ''Theft'', , , - ! 1971 , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glevum
Glevum (or, more formally, Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or occasionally ''Glouvia'') was originally a Roman fort in Roman Britain that became a " colonia" of retired legionaries in AD 97. Today, it is known as Gloucester, in the English county of Gloucestershire. The name Glevum is taken by many present-day businesses in the area and also by the 26-mile ''Glevum Way'', a long-distance footpath or recreational walk encircling modern Gloucester Fortress Glevum was established around AD 48, at an important crossing of the River Severn, and near to the Fosse Way, the early front line after the Roman invasion of Britain. Initially, a Roman fort was established at present-day Kingsholm in c. 65–70 AD. The Roman Legions based here were probably the Legio XX Valeria Victrix until 66 and then Legio II Augusta for their invasion of Roman Wales between 66 and 74 AD. Between AD 81 and 98, larger replacement walls were built on slightly higher ground nearby, centred on present-day Glo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isca Dumnoniorum
Isca Dumnoniorum, also known simply as Isca, was originally a Roman legionary fortress for the Second Augustan Legion (established ) in the Roman province of Britannia at the site of present-day Exeter in Devon. The town grew up around this fortress and served as the tribal capital of the Dumnonians under and after the Romans. The city walls of Exeter (some 70% of which survive) mark the former perimeter of Isca. Name The name ''Isca Dumnoniorum'' is a Latinization of a native Brittonic name describing flowing water, in reference to the River Exe. More exactly, the name seems to have originally meant "full of fish" (cf. Welsh ''pysg'', "fish"), although it came to be a simple synonym for water (cf. Scottish whisky). This is also reflected in the modern Welsh name for Exeter: ''Caerwysg'' meaning "fortified settlement on the river Uisc". The same name was used for the River Usk (modern ) in southern Wales, causing the settlement there (modern Caerleon) to be distingui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and gathering military intelligence. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guards were escorts for high-ranking political officials (Roman Senate, senators and procurator (ancient Rome), procurators) and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by whose influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the new ''Caesar (title), caesar'' of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the and destroyed their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus
Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed his biological father. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a military commander, serving under his father in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. The campaign came to a brief halt with the death of emperor Nero in 68, launching Vespasian's bid for the imperial power during the Year of the Four Emperors. When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In 70, he besieged and captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Second Temple. For this achievement Titus was awarded a triumph; the Arch of Titus commemorates his victory and still stands today. During his father's rule, Titus gained notoriety in Rome serving as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
