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Mika Waltari’s ‘The Roman� describes the experiences of Minutus Lausus Manilianus, the narrator, a Roman citizen of equestrian rank, during the reigns of Agrippina (through the Emperor Claudius) and her son, the Emperor Nero.

Published in 1964, it follows on his earlier novel, ‘The Secrets of the Kingdom�. Both books are about the development of Christianity under immensely hostile conditions, first from the Jews and then from the Romans. ‘The Roman' follows the careers of the Emperor Nero and the Apostles Peter and Paul through the narrative and life of Minutus.


In ‘The Roman,� the first part is a kind of bildungsroman, with the young Minutus growing up in Damascus, until his father decides to start him on a political career and takes him to Rome. The people he meets include the senile Emperor Claudius and his entourage, including Nero’s tutor Seneca. Through Seneca, he begins a career that takes him from Rome to Britain, where under Vespasian’s orders, he studies one of the more famous British tribes - the Iceni. His career propels him to Corinth, to Athens, to Armenia, Cilicia, to Ephesus and back to Corinth. All through this, his official duties see him as an opponent to the new Christian religion, while everywhere, he meets with Christians so gentle, so meek despite their high-born status that his personal inclinations are to this new faith. And he holds in his hands a rare gift from his father: a wooden cup that Christ is supposed to have drunk from.

The book is disappointing, despite its early promise, as it reveals Minutus as an incompetent fool, a cuckold and Nero’s clown. His character is indecisive and insensitive. But the question seems to be, does he assume the guise of an imbecile the better to negotiate Rome’s treacherous politics, for he does quite well for himself in financial matters. His wife regards him with contempt, but this means nothing to him � he is smart enough to remain alive despite her menagerie, her bloodlust and her lovers. From his one time noble aspirations, his marriage makes him little more than a circus manager, especially responsible for the wild beasts that are let loose in the arena. We read with horror as he watches the grisly murder of Nero’s mother Agrippina.

The book is as good as ‘The Egyptian� technically, that is, in terms of historical detail, but it suffers by comparison with the 1896 ‘Quo Vadis?� by Henry Sienkiewicz, which concentrates on the life of Nero, and covers a large portion of ‘The Roman'. Secondly, the light, faux biographical style of ‘The Roman' was attempted very successfully by Robert Graves's ‘I, Claudius.�

It has moments of great promise, moments of unequalled horror, and of unutterable poignancy in the personal life of Minutus, reflections of the horror and tragedy taking place in the Roman theatre. The execution of St Peter is reflected in the beheading of Marcus, Minutus’s father; the murder of Agrippina is reflected in the sacrifice of Minutus's son, Jucundus, torn apart by wild beasts in the games that Minutus was responsible for organising.