Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth-Century RomeChicago Review Press, 1 aug 2005 - 255 pagina's In this vivid, dynamic novel, Hella Haasse has once more brought the past to life. This time she has chosen to illuminate a crucial, yet relatively obscure period of history: it is 414 A.D. and the once-powerful Roman Empire is in its death throes—split between East and West, menaced by barbarian hordes almost literally at its gates. The Emperor Honorius, an incompetent weakling, cowers in the marsh-bound city of Ravenna, where he has moved the government; he rarely "makes entry" into Rome. This is the brilliant canvas against which the characters in this drama interact. There is the Prefect Hadrian, a powerful official and fanatical Christian convert; there is Marcus Anicius, the pagan aristocrat who is clinging to a dying past, and there is the Jew Eliezar be Elijah, hemmed in by his own traditions and burdened by his dark vision of the future. There is the intrigue and uncertainty of life at Honorius's court, and there are the streets and tenements of Rome, pulsating with life and with corruption. |
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Pagina 22
... faces and cold eyes. Then — a long look at the other three. None of them seems like a complete stranger to him. His eyes come to rest on the last man in the row, whose face is averted: a beard, a frayed toga – a strange bird among these ...
... faces and cold eyes. Then — a long look at the other three. None of them seems like a complete stranger to him. His eyes come to rest on the last man in the row, whose face is averted: a beard, a frayed toga – a strange bird among these ...
Pagina 36
... faces, but with their togas correctly draped over arm and shoulder. Just as their host had done, all four ask for lawyers. Four times the Prefect refuses, pointing out that as the representative of the highest authority in the City, he ...
... faces, but with their togas correctly draped over arm and shoulder. Just as their host had done, all four ask for lawyers. Four times the Prefect refuses, pointing out that as the representative of the highest authority in the City, he ...
Pagina 43
... faces of his officials, did he not go on to interrogate the enigmatic foreigner? To elicit personal details — from which village, which city on the Nile have you come, what brought you to Rome, when and how, who The Prefect 43.
... faces of his officials, did he not go on to interrogate the enigmatic foreigner? To elicit personal details — from which village, which city on the Nile have you come, what brought you to Rome, when and how, who The Prefect 43.
Pagina 46
... word in his memory. The blood drains from his face. While Mallius dreams in daylight and darkness The Egyptian steals everything; nothing is sacred to him. People of Rome, cry with one voice: Mallius, wake! Perhaps 46 THRESHOLD OF FIRE.
... word in his memory. The blood drains from his face. While Mallius dreams in daylight and darkness The Egyptian steals everything; nothing is sacred to him. People of Rome, cry with one voice: Mallius, wake! Perhaps 46 THRESHOLD OF FIRE.
Pagina 48
... face darker in complexion than is usual among the Roman elite—but how comforting his own certainty of seeing that calm expression wiped away, of seeing this illustrious protégé of the great kicked off his pedestal, how soothing to watch ...
... face darker in complexion than is usual among the Roman elite—but how comforting his own certainty of seeing that calm expression wiped away, of seeing this illustrious protégé of the great kicked off his pedestal, how soothing to watch ...
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Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth-Century Rome Hella S. Haasse,Anita Miller,Nini Blinstrub Gedeeltelijke weergave - 2005 |
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able accused Alexandria Arcadius asked Aulus Fronto Balcho barbarians become believe bishops blood calls himself Niliacus Christian City Claudius Claudianus cock corner court crowd darkness death dream dwarf Egyptian Eliezar Emperor Honorius Emperor Theodosius Empire entry everything eyes face feeling Flavius Stilicho Forum of Trajan friends galleries gesture goddess gods Goths Hadrian hand head hold honor Honorius's interrogation justice hall Klafthi knew later light living longer look Magister Militum magistrate Mallius marble Marcus Anicius Rufus memory Milan mime move Muneral never Nile officials Olybrius Olympiodorus once pagan palanquin perhaps person poet praetorian guard Prefect prefecture prisoner Pylades realize recognized retinue Roman Rome Rufinus sacrifice secret Serena shoulder silent slave someone standing statue stink stood Subura tablinum temple Theodosius things thought tion turn Urbanilla villa voice waiting wall words