''Roma Eterna'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fixup A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame ...

novel by American writer

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...

, published in 2003, which presents an

alternative history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

in which the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

survives to the present day. Each of the ten chapters was first published as a short story, six of them in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

'', between 1989 and 2003.

Plot introduction

The

point of divergence Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

is the failure of the

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and many of the Israelites drowned, and the remnant, led by

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

, were fetched back to slavery in Egypt, a traumatic event recorded for posterity in the ''Book of Aaron'', an alternate version of the Bible. Later, the Hebrews were freed from bondage and remained a distinct religious-ethnic minority in Egypt, practicing a

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

religion, up to the equivalent of our 20th century (the 27th century of the

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...

). Still, affairs of the larger world and the rise and fall of empires and cultures remained roughly the same as in our history until the division of the

, which was never Christianised in this history. Mutual assistance between the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

against barbarian invasions preserved both from falling and kept Roman rule intact throughout the imperial dominions. Despite the absence of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, which, in our history, considerably influenced early

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

still started his prophetic career but was assassinated by a perceptive Roman agent, nipping Islam in the bud and thus precluding the spread of any monotheistic religion through the

. Monotheism remained limited to the specific Hebrew sect in Egypt.

Plot summary

The novel is presented as a series of vignettes over a period of about 1500 years, from to . Most of the story-chapters involve Roman politics, either the competition between the Western and Eastern Empires to dominate the other or the violent creation of the Second

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

in about . Others describe the first Roman circumnavigation of the world and unsuccessful attempts to conquer Nova Roma (

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

). Many features of our own history are repeated in this history, though under changed circumstances: the equivalent of the 16th and 17th centuries have bold navigators and adventurers, romanticised by later generations but unpleasantly brutal and ruthless when looked at closely; in the late 18th to mid-19th centuries, a decadent old order is overthrown by revolution followed by a reign of terror and the reemergence of

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

; though

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

remains a central part of the Roman Empire, the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

dialect spoken there develops into a kind of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and the name "Marcus" changes into "Marco"; though

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

is a provincial capital which never had an

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

of its own, its population dances the

Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

; by the 20th century, people travel by cars rather than carriages and by the second half of the century,

space flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such a ...

is achieved. It concludes with the first story to be written, when a group of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

citizens in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

prepare to depart Earth in a rocket which explodes shortly after takeoff. But they will try again, still believing God chose them to inherit the

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

, just not on Rome-dominated Earth.

Chapters

The book consists of a prologue and ten chapters ''(Gregorian calendar year)'': * AUC 1203: Prologue ''( AD 450)'' * AUC 1282: With Caesar in the Underworld ''(529)'' * AUC 1365: A Hero of the Empire ''(612)'' * AUC 1861: The Second Wave ''(1108)'' * AUC 1951: Waiting for the End ''(1198)'' * AUC 2206: An Outpost of the Realm ''(1453)'' * AUC 2543: Getting to know the Dragon ''(1790)'' * AUC 2568: The Reign of Terror ''(1815)'' * AUC 2603: Via Roma ''(1850)'' * AUC 2650: Tales from the Venia Woods ''(1897)'' * AUC 2723: To the Promised Land ''(1970)''

Literary significance and reception

The book received a share of negative criticism. It was accused by

Claude Lalumière Claude Lalumière (born 1966) is an author, book reviewer and has edited numerous anthologies. A resident of Montreal, Quebec, he writes the Montreal Gazette, ''Montreal Gazette's'' Fantastic Fiction column. He also owned and operated two indepen ...

The Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

of concentrating too much on the upper class and not drawing a detailed picture of Roman life and its change through the ages. The only story in the book to receive true praise from reviewer Alma A. Hromic of SFSite is the last chapter, ''To the Promised Land'', which incidentally, does not deal with Romans or the upper class of the Empire. Five of the stories in the series, "Waiting for the End," "Getting to Know the Dragon," "A Hero of the Empire," "With Caesar in the Underworld," and "The Reign of Terror" were nominated for the

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in w ...

upon their original publications, although none of the stories won.

Publication history

As short stories

Original short stories first publication. * "To the Promised Land" (''Omni'', May 1989) * "Tales from the Venia Woods" (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', October 1989) * "An Outpost of the Empire" (''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine'', November 1991) * "Via Roma" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', April 1994) * "Waiting for the End" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', October/November 1998) * "Getting to Know the Dragon" (''Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction'', May 1999) * "A Hero of the Empire" (''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', October–November 1999) * "The Second Wave" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', August 2002) * "With Caesar in the Underworld" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', October/November 2002) * "The Reign of Terror" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', April 2003)

As a single book

HardbackPublication history of Roma Eterna
fantasticfiction.co.uk, accessed: 8 August 2008 * June 2003, publisher: Eos, , United States edition * August 2003, publisher: Gollancz, , UK edition Paperback * April 2004, publisher: Eos, , USA edition * July 2004, publisher: Gollancz, , UK edition

References

External links

* {{Works of Robert Silverberg 2003 American novels 2003 science fiction novels Alternate history novels Alternate history novels set in ancient Rome American alternate history novels American science fiction novels Novels by Robert Silverberg Novels set in the Byzantine Empire Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction