I often wonder why I enjoy reading and writing about ancient history. It is brutal and dark and full of suffering, inequality and injustice, but is it so different to our world today? Suffering is part of the human experience whatever time we are from. But above all, I realized that I actually love reading and writing about people, no matter when or where they were born, and in particular seeing them overcome what seem like insurmountable odds.
I agree with the views of Elizabeth Gilbert, who in a Ted interview ( BBC Radio 4 8 Aug 2019) described her journey through grief. She said something along these lines; “A good deal of the human experience is pain suffering and darkness, but that is half the story there is also incredible love, resilience, beauty and grace”.
In speaking of being a successful writer Elizabeth says she wasn’t in it for the recognition, when rejections came she continued to write because “The process of creating something will transform you in ways you cannot imagine”. It can restore and heal.
This is my experience too. Writing has brought me through all those dark and difficult periods of my life and resilience and love and hope have emerged from suffering. I speak of my own experiences through the characters in my books and it works just as well in ancient society or a fantasy world because it is the human experience and we can all relate to it.
Two thousand years ago many of the people of Britain were taken as slaves to Rome. Like you and me they lived their lives in a world of complexities. They loved, had families and fought to survive. They created beautiful things, were hospitable and hardworking. In so many ways they were just like us.
We still fight our battles today and, as in the arenas of ancient Rome, there are probably still cruel spectators, but we can hone our skills. We can become resilient. We can choose to find incredible love, beauty and grace.
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