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Linnea Tanner
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Apollo's Raven
Literature & Fiction
Author Insight
One Glimpse of a Young Man
As I've reflected on the pandemic we are living through, this scene from APOLLO'S RAVEN comes to mind. Marcellus ponders if he is reliving the curse of his ancestors' misdeeds. In the back of his mind, he fears being struck dead in his youth like his namesake, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the nephew of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Marcellus's dynastic succession was guaranteed when he married Augustus's fourteen-year-old daughter in 25BC. The year 23BC was off to a good start when Marcellus oversaw a succession of games to make his mark with the crowds. But then, plague struck Augustus in spring and Marcellus later that fall. In an ironic twist of fate, Augustus survived while Marcellus died at the age of twenty years. His mother dedicated the following poem from the Poet Virgil: "Fate shall allow the earth one glimpse of this young man--one glimpse, no more ... Alas, poor youth! If only you could escape your harsh fate! Marcellus you shall be. Give me armful of lilies that I may scatter their shining blooms and shower these gifts at least upon the dear soul, all to no purpose though such kindness be." This poem is dedicated to young victims of the coronavirus for whom we are left with but glimpses of their lives.
Book Excerpt
Apollo's Raven
Catrin recalled her unsettling conversation with Marcellus when he revealed his greatest fear was to die young like his namesake—the nephew of Augustus—who was considered the presumptive monarchic heir to the emperor. The charismatic noble married at the age of seventeen to the emperor’s daughter, Julia. Two years later, his life was cut short by typhoid before he could fulfill his destiny.
Marcellus disclosed that he wanted to emulate his great-grandfather. As a boy, he imagined himself leading his army into battle against Celtic hordes in Gaul, like the legendary General Mark Antony. Marcellus even asked Lucius, his father, to change his first name to Marcus in tribute to his great-grandfather, but Lucius declared, “As your paterfamilias, I not only decide your name but also your fate.”
After Marcellus told Catrin this, he gazed at the setting sun as though longing for it to rise again. The lines around his eyes deepened when he divulged that he no longer believed plundering other homelands for personal gain was honorable and that he would make sure his father knew this. It was as if he was warning her that Rome intended to attack the Cantiaci kingdom.
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