"The blood of the bulls on Jupiter’s hill gave them liberty—the words graven unto these Twelve Tables made them equal."
ROME, 462 BC. To save his family’s failing farm, sixteen-year-old Marcus Atilius is sold into debt servitude by his own father. Plunged into the city’s underbelly, Marcus must endure a world of cutthroat trading stalls and gritty warehouses, all while navigating a forbidden entanglement with a woman far above his station. Survival demands sharp guile and moral compromise.
As a bitter class struggle pushes Rome toward the brink of civil war, Marcus vows to beat the elites at their own ruthless game to win his freedom and a fortune worthy of the woman he loves.
Yet his rise brings a fateful choice. A historic demand sweeps the city for the Twelve Tables—a revolutionary legal code to protect plebeians from patrician tyranny. With a corrupt aristocrat holding the tether to his trading empire, will Marcus protect his hard-won power, or risk everything for the soul of Rome?
ENJOY AN EXCERPT: The fire crackled. His father’s eyes roved over their faces. “He said I was too weak for bondage. That I was the reason for the debt.”
Quintus rose in protest. Fausta began to weep, and Lucia went to her, wrapping her arms around her.
“Is it so, Marcus?” Servius whispered. “Has father slowed that much?”
Marcus feigned doubt that Mettius had, but only out of respect. The weight loss, the gray in his beard—his father had aged. Strong as a bull one year, enfeebled the next.
Mettius drew a breath and went on. “He threatened to seize our land. Make vagrants of us. Beggars.”
If they lost their land, Marcus knew, they would live in crowded squalor in Rome, desperate for work. And why? Because it had always been that way. There was one set of laws for the privileged, another for everyone else.
His father stared over their heads at the wall. “I asked for another way. He wanted Quintus.” Mettius lowered his gaze. “I did not allow it. If I were to die with Quintus in bondage, the family would have no paterfamilias. The risk was too great.” His father’s voice had gone cold.
Quintus turned around. Marcus nodded to show he agreed. Better to lose their land than a son. It would be a hardship, but the family would stay together this way.
Marcus looked at his father. Their eyes met.
“I sold Marcus into mancipium with Gaius Licinius. A term of three years. He comes tomorrow to take him to Rome.”
Have you ever had an imaginary friend?
I don’t recall completely imagined friends, but rather idealized versions of real friends or acquaintances.
Do you have any phobias?
On occasion I will experience anxiety over thoughts of extreme confinement, such as being locked in the trunk of a car or when watching a TV show with a claustrophobic scene.
Do you listen to music when you're writing?
I have tried listening to both classical and rock music while writing and found it a distraction. I know many writers do—TC Boyle, for example, has said he listens to classical music while writing. I write in a room with a window open to outdoor sounds and noise.
Do you ever read your stories out loud?
Never the complete book—my voice would give out! I will sometimes read a paragraph out loud, or more often a piece of dialogue, to test it and make sure I want to use it. That said, I very much enjoy doing readings of my work at bookstores.
Tell us about your main character and who inspired him/her.
The inspiration for the protagonist of my novel The Twelve Tables came while doing background research for the book and reading about the practice of mancipium in ancient Rome, a form of legal slavery. When I learned that a father could sell his son to a creditor to pay off a debt, I knew I had the main character for my story.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
http://richardbarager.com
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https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Tables-Novel-Ancient-Rome/dp/B0HF6TJPW2/
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