Hannibal Barca
Around spring break of this year, I started reading Michael Curtis Ford's The Last King, a historical novel based on the life and exploits of the famed King of Pontus, Mithridates VI. Ford claims that Mithridates was Roman Republic's greatest enemy, even more formidable than Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca. And he may be right, being that it took three prominant Roman generals to quell the consolidated forces of Mithridates as he sought to vanquish Rome and see his ideals of a "New Greece" to fruition. The novel is told from the perspective of Mithridates' son, Pharnaces, his narrative spanning throughout the years from a boy tugging on his father's cloak to a grown man commanding the Pontic cavalry. Through his often biased eyes, Mithridates is seen a god of a man with no weaknesses, with a sage-like judgment and a beastly stature. This undoubtedly gets a little old at times, but Ford certainly stays true to Pharnaces' viewpoint, as the son of such a man would see him in the shimmering light of a god. According to the ancient historian Plutarch, Mithridates often referred to himself as Dionysus incarnate, just as Mark Antony did. The Pontic king thought a lot of himself, and when you can rival the massive forces of such a dominant city-state as Rome, why not?
Pharnaces takes us through several years of the exploits of Pontus, from his father's minor skirmishes with the rival city-states of Asia Minor, to his larger scale conflicts with the Roman general's Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great). Ford, in the wake of his narrator's incorruptable descriptions of Mithridates, does well to see the great king's forces fall from time to time in his dizzying, spectacular descriptions of epic battles throughout the Greek peninsula. Ford has many weapons in his ancient arsenal, but his go-to is the vivid way in which he describes a battle scene, enabling the reader to hear the clanking of sword to shield and the screams of the multitudes of soldiers falling under them. Pharnaces also remains consistent in his demonizing views of the Romans. In one of the standout passages of the book, Mithridates unleashes his chariots on Sulla's legions, only to have the Roman soldiers quickly see them under their gladii, calling for the Pontics to bring on more of their wheeled secret weapons.
Mithridates claimed Persian blood but was raised in a Hellenistic culture, which is why he sought to see the known world unified under one Grecian banner. For this to be done, Rome had to fall to the wayside - a lofty goal in an ancient world nearly dominated by the whims of the Republic. Every bit as obstinant as Hannibal or Caesar's arch enemy, the Gallic Vercingetorix, Mithridates stood to see the pillars of Rome shake and the foundations of the mighty Republic crack under the might weight of his Grecian gods. As to be expected. he didn't win every battle - but he surely gave the renowned Roman generals all they could handle in one pitched battle after the next, spanning several years in which a steady stream of bad blood flowed for the ancient world to see.
In Ford's novel, the reader is introduced not only to vivid desccriptions of the battlefield, but what it might have been like to count themselves part of the Pontic court, full of mistresses and eunuchs, food tasters and alchemists and carnival sideshows with a staggering wit. His descriptions are colorful, and though I probably would've preferred it done in a manner more fitting for ancient historical figures, his banter is clever and concise. His characters are consistent in their own personal traits, weapons, and demeanors, and all the scenes decribed are carefully researched for a more authentic reading experience.
Of all the authors writing historical fiction these days, I enjoy Ford's work the most, as anyone would be hard-pressed to write a battle scene the way he does. The Last King is the first book of his I have read, but I have two more waiting on the shelf in The Ten Thousand and Gods and Legions. From Roman legions and Roman deserters turned mercenaries, to pompous generals and kings with the lofty goals of carrying on the Hellenistic traditions of Alexander the Great, The Last King does well to delve into the life of a mortal man who thought himself a god, and who was every bit as much to his starry eyed son who took few opportunities to question his father's divine logic in the midst of battle - painted opulently in the gritty hues of dirt, sweat, and blood.
In Ford's novel, the reader is introduced not only to vivid desccriptions of the battlefield, but what it might have been like to count themselves part of the Pontic court, full of mistresses and eunuchs, food tasters and alchemists and carnival sideshows with a staggering wit. His descriptions are colorful, and though I probably would've preferred it done in a manner more fitting for ancient historical figures, his banter is clever and concise. His characters are consistent in their own personal traits, weapons, and demeanors, and all the scenes decribed are carefully researched for a more authentic reading experience.
Of all the authors writing historical fiction these days, I enjoy Ford's work the most, as anyone would be hard-pressed to write a battle scene the way he does. The Last King is the first book of his I have read, but I have two more waiting on the shelf in The Ten Thousand and Gods and Legions. From Roman legions and Roman deserters turned mercenaries, to pompous generals and kings with the lofty goals of carrying on the Hellenistic traditions of Alexander the Great, The Last King does well to delve into the life of a mortal man who thought himself a god, and who was every bit as much to his starry eyed son who took few opportunities to question his father's divine logic in the midst of battle - painted opulently in the gritty hues of dirt, sweat, and blood.
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