IVIn Conclusion

In thus reviewing the principal lines of development which the novel of Roman life has followed to the present day, it has been found that, in some cases, these lines lead away ultimately from the true type of the novel which portrays the life of Rome with realistic effect. Thus the line of the novel of Roman life as written by scholarly preachers has been found to branch off, at a certain point, into the line of the story of religious instruction, a form which was excluded by definition in Section I of this study. The line of the “popular” novel of Roman life has always had a tendency to branch off, and deteriorate into cheap imitations, which attempt to use Roman life to provide artificial coloring, but do not really portray Roman life at all. The line of the novel of Roman life written to illustrate “schoolbook” history has in most cases branched off directly into the line of books for boys—Mr. Davis’s and Mr. White’s novels being the notable exceptions. While there has been little direct imitation of the pedantic elements in the work of German scholars, with their meticulous overemphasis upon detail; German novelists such as Eckstein have been shown to follow Scott in their methods of writing historical novels, and to suggest in turn to English novelists, the thorough way in which subjects taken from Roman life may be presented by any novelist. Few English novelists have attained notable success in portraying Roman life in terms which suggest the purity of style and beauty of thought of Pater’sMarius the Epicurean.

The two English novels of Roman life, which have had the most profound influence upon other English novels of Roman life, are Kingsley’sHypatiaand Wallace’sBen Hur; and one must look to these two especially, in any attempt to trace the lines of development which are of the most supreme importance, in the English novel of Roman life.Since the publication of these two books,Quo Vadishas had a very important effect upon the English novel of Roman life, but this book followed Canon Farrar’sDarkness and Dawn, which in turn followed Eckstein’sNero. The importance ofHypatiaandBen Hur, in the development of the novel of Roman life, is due principally to the clear relation which they establish between the life of the Roman world and the life of today, and to their illustration of eternal truths. It must be emphasized that novels such as these give one a comprehensive idea of life throughout the Roman world;Ben Huris most successful in this, but the scenes inHypatia, though chiefly laid in Alexandria, are symbolic of Roman life in a larger sphere. A few novels of Roman life have attained, in some measure, the success ofHypatiaandBen Hur, by portraying life in a number of different parts of the Roman world. But most novelists have done better work by limiting the scene of their novels to the vicinity of the City of Rome itself, while not attempting work upon such large outlines as those upon which the work of Charles Kingsley and Lew Wallace is based. It has been found that novels whose scene is laid chiefly outside of and apart from any great city of the Roman world,—especially those whose scene is in one of the remote provinces of the Roman Empire,—do not really portray Roman life. This has been found to be the case with novels whose scene is Roman Britain, since they merely present very elementary illustrations of school-book history, and do not portray the life of Rome at all.

In general, the novel of Roman life has been found to be a very elastic form, and this has necessitated a certain looseness of structure in the section treating of its development, (Sec. III); but especial care has been taken not to omit significant elements in this development, and not to set up arbitrary standards of value. The principal lines of development, which the novel of Roman life has followed, and which I have endeavored to trace carefully, have not converged up to the present time; this study has thereforebeen devoted to an analysis of important individual elements, rather than to an attempt to construct from these elements a complete whole, based upon any abstract theory, and having a merely superficial unity. All elements of permanent value in the novel of Roman life have been given an entirely thorough consideration, the combination of a number of important elements in great novels has been pointed out; but the possibility of a further combination of these important elements into an even greater novel of Roman life than any which has yet been written, is something which the future alone can realize. While, for the sake of completeness, it has been necessary to review a number of inferior novels; these have, in most cases, been used to illustrate definite tendencies in particular lines of development of the novel of Roman life; or to mark the exact points at which such particular lines of development pass outside the limits of the field of the true novel of Roman life.

It is sincerely hoped that this study will serve as a complete and unbiased review of all the best work that has been done in the novel of Roman life. This work has been shown to be one requiring scholarship of the highest order, and offering to the reader products, whose literary merit compares favorably with that of the best work produced in other departments of the historical novel. In portraying life in the past with realistic effect, the novel of Roman life has been shown to be a direct development of the historical novel, a literary form which has in all important respects followed the example of Sir Walter Scott, and which has continued to show evidences of vigor and power to the present time. The life of ancient Rome has been shown to offer to the English historical novelist a field rich in material which illustrates the vital connection between the life of the past and the life of the present.

FOOTNOTES[1]Evander: Mr. Eden Phillpotts, (1919).[2]e. g.,A Friend of Caesar: Mr. William Stearns Davis, (1900).[3]Princess Salome: Dr. Burris Jenkins, Lippincott, Phila., (1921).[4]Pomponia, the Gospel in Caesar’s Household: Mrs. J. B. Peploe Webb, (1867), (Presbyterian Publication Company, o. p.).[5]Emma Leslie inSowing Beside All Waters, etc., furnishes a clear example of the most worthless kind of work to be found in the form of the story of religious instruction.[6]Scott rarely made a great historical characterthe central figureof a novel. An exception is seen in the character of Queen Mary inThe Abbot.[7]Prefatory LettertoPeveril of the Peak.[8]Scott’sIntroductiontoIvanhoe.[9]Mr. Borden’s list of novels of Roman life by foreign authors is:Nero: Ernst Eckstein, (1889)A Thorny Path: George Ebers, (1892)Quo Vadis: H. Sienkiewicz, (1895)The Death of the Gods: D. Merejkowski, (1901)[10]The Progress of Romance(1785).[11]General Prefaceto theWaverly Novels.[12]For a more complete outline of the tendencies of the romance at this time, seeThe Development of the English Novel: Wilbur L. Cross.[13]This motive is used in Mr. E. L. White’sAndivius Hedulio, and in Baring-Gould’sPerpetua; in each of these novels the hero makes his escape through the drain.[14]Thomas Love Peacock saidThe Epicureanwas “not faithful to ancient manners, and ignorant of Epicureanism.”[15]The date 1827 is given in the publisher’s note to the 1901 edition, as the date whenSalathielwas first published. This is evidently a mistake on the part of the publishers (Messrs. Funk and Wagnalls), since 1829 is given as the original date of publication by historians of the novel (e. g., George Saintsbury inThe English Novel), and in biographical accounts of Croly (e. g.,The Dictionary of National Biography, etc.).[16]Josephus is the direct source usually, and always the ultimate source of all novels which take the siege of Jerusalem for their theme.cf.Whyte-Melville’sThe Gladiators.[17]Croly’s classical scholarship is especially well displayed in hisCatiline, which tells in the form of a verse drama the story of the famous conspiracy against the Roman republic.[18]Since Bulwer wrote for many years under this name, before he became the Earl of Lytton, it is quite permissable to use the shorter form of his name.[19]The scene ofValerius, of course, opens in Britain, but nothing of importance to the story happens there. This is doubtless a mere device to arouse the interest of English readers in the hero by hinting at the connection of “Roman” Britain with Rome.[20]The date 1840, given in some guides to historical fiction, has been found to be incorrect.[21]Hypatiawas begun as a serial in Fraser’s Magazine in 1851.[22]In regard to Kingsley’s choice of Hypatia for his heroine, it should be said that she typifies the last adherent of Greek philosophy, and this is the real reason she is chosen. There is, however, a marked similarity between Kingsley’s heroine and Ware’s Zenobia. Both were women who aspired to power, independent of the Roman government; and both conceived the idea of relying on male counselors. Hypatia, in speaking of Philammon, says: “If I could but train him into a Longinus, I could dare to play the part of a Zenobia, with him as counselor... And for my Odenatus—Orestes?” She did indeed attempt to follow this plan, even forming an alliance with Orestes, whom she detested. But even if Kingsley’s heroine was in part suggested to him by Ware’s Zenobia, this is not to be considered an important reason leading to the writing ofHypatia.[23]For this aspect of the Oxford conspiracy, see George Borrow’sLavengro, (1851), andThe Romany Rye, (1857); also W. L. Cross,The Development of the English Novel, p. 211, and W. L. Gates,Essay on Newman, inThree Studies in Literature, N. Y., (1899).[24]These quotations are all from the same letter, which may be found inCharles Kingsley; His Letters and Memories of His Life, edited by his wife: Scribners, N. Y., 1894, abridged from the London Edition.[25]Quoted from a notice of the English translation by M. J. Safford. The notice appeared in a contemporary number ofThe Spectator, St. Louis.[26]From a contemporary review inThe Mail and Express, N. Y.[27]Among authors cited are Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Martial, Cicero, Seneca, St. Jerome, Juvenal, Tacitus, Plautus, Dion Cassius, Aulus Gellius, Aurelius Victor, Suetonius, Ovid, Ammianus Marcellinus, Tertullian, and a number of others.[28]Wallace owes little in the chariot-race scene to Quinton’sThe Money God, though a similar scene inThe Money Godhas been pointed out.[29]Arthur Hobson Quinn, Professor of English and (former) Dean of the College, University of Pennsylvania, inThe American Novel—Past and Present; Lectures by the Faculty, 1913-14, p. 302.[30]J. M. Murray,The Problem of Style, (1922); quoted inThe Classical WeeklyFebruary 26, 1923.[31]The Temptation of St. Anthonyis probably the best example of dream literature in the world, and Mr. E. L. White may have had in mind this method of transporting one’s thoughts to the past, when he was collecting material forAndivius Hedulio(1921).[32]See his letter to Mr. Maurice, January 16, 1851 (already quoted), inCharles Kingsley, Letters and Memories of His Life, ed. by his wife, abr. from London ed.,Scribner’s, 1894.[33]Author’sNote to the Reader.[34]Walter Pater, a Critical Study, by Edward Thomas, N. Y., 1913.[35]Mr. F. S. Dunn, while speaking with due reverence of Pater’s chaste diction and chaster ethics, notes two trifling errors made inMarius the Epicureanin regard to the topography of Rome. (F. S. Dunn,The Historical Novel in the Classroom,—Classical Journal, April, 1911.)[36]Quinton inThe Money God, had spoken of the two favorite bears of the Emperor Galerius, giving as his source Lactantius,de Morte persecutorum, cap. 21.

FOOTNOTES

[1]Evander: Mr. Eden Phillpotts, (1919).

[2]e. g.,A Friend of Caesar: Mr. William Stearns Davis, (1900).

[3]Princess Salome: Dr. Burris Jenkins, Lippincott, Phila., (1921).

[4]Pomponia, the Gospel in Caesar’s Household: Mrs. J. B. Peploe Webb, (1867), (Presbyterian Publication Company, o. p.).

[5]Emma Leslie inSowing Beside All Waters, etc., furnishes a clear example of the most worthless kind of work to be found in the form of the story of religious instruction.

[6]Scott rarely made a great historical characterthe central figureof a novel. An exception is seen in the character of Queen Mary inThe Abbot.

[7]Prefatory LettertoPeveril of the Peak.

[8]Scott’sIntroductiontoIvanhoe.

[9]Mr. Borden’s list of novels of Roman life by foreign authors is:Nero: Ernst Eckstein, (1889)A Thorny Path: George Ebers, (1892)Quo Vadis: H. Sienkiewicz, (1895)The Death of the Gods: D. Merejkowski, (1901)

[9]Mr. Borden’s list of novels of Roman life by foreign authors is:

Nero: Ernst Eckstein, (1889)A Thorny Path: George Ebers, (1892)Quo Vadis: H. Sienkiewicz, (1895)The Death of the Gods: D. Merejkowski, (1901)

Nero: Ernst Eckstein, (1889)

A Thorny Path: George Ebers, (1892)

Quo Vadis: H. Sienkiewicz, (1895)

The Death of the Gods: D. Merejkowski, (1901)

[10]The Progress of Romance(1785).

[11]General Prefaceto theWaverly Novels.

[12]For a more complete outline of the tendencies of the romance at this time, seeThe Development of the English Novel: Wilbur L. Cross.

[13]This motive is used in Mr. E. L. White’sAndivius Hedulio, and in Baring-Gould’sPerpetua; in each of these novels the hero makes his escape through the drain.

[14]Thomas Love Peacock saidThe Epicureanwas “not faithful to ancient manners, and ignorant of Epicureanism.”

[15]The date 1827 is given in the publisher’s note to the 1901 edition, as the date whenSalathielwas first published. This is evidently a mistake on the part of the publishers (Messrs. Funk and Wagnalls), since 1829 is given as the original date of publication by historians of the novel (e. g., George Saintsbury inThe English Novel), and in biographical accounts of Croly (e. g.,The Dictionary of National Biography, etc.).

[16]Josephus is the direct source usually, and always the ultimate source of all novels which take the siege of Jerusalem for their theme.cf.Whyte-Melville’sThe Gladiators.

[17]Croly’s classical scholarship is especially well displayed in hisCatiline, which tells in the form of a verse drama the story of the famous conspiracy against the Roman republic.

[18]Since Bulwer wrote for many years under this name, before he became the Earl of Lytton, it is quite permissable to use the shorter form of his name.

[19]The scene ofValerius, of course, opens in Britain, but nothing of importance to the story happens there. This is doubtless a mere device to arouse the interest of English readers in the hero by hinting at the connection of “Roman” Britain with Rome.

[20]The date 1840, given in some guides to historical fiction, has been found to be incorrect.

[21]Hypatiawas begun as a serial in Fraser’s Magazine in 1851.

[22]In regard to Kingsley’s choice of Hypatia for his heroine, it should be said that she typifies the last adherent of Greek philosophy, and this is the real reason she is chosen. There is, however, a marked similarity between Kingsley’s heroine and Ware’s Zenobia. Both were women who aspired to power, independent of the Roman government; and both conceived the idea of relying on male counselors. Hypatia, in speaking of Philammon, says: “If I could but train him into a Longinus, I could dare to play the part of a Zenobia, with him as counselor... And for my Odenatus—Orestes?” She did indeed attempt to follow this plan, even forming an alliance with Orestes, whom she detested. But even if Kingsley’s heroine was in part suggested to him by Ware’s Zenobia, this is not to be considered an important reason leading to the writing ofHypatia.

[23]For this aspect of the Oxford conspiracy, see George Borrow’sLavengro, (1851), andThe Romany Rye, (1857); also W. L. Cross,The Development of the English Novel, p. 211, and W. L. Gates,Essay on Newman, inThree Studies in Literature, N. Y., (1899).

[24]These quotations are all from the same letter, which may be found inCharles Kingsley; His Letters and Memories of His Life, edited by his wife: Scribners, N. Y., 1894, abridged from the London Edition.

[25]Quoted from a notice of the English translation by M. J. Safford. The notice appeared in a contemporary number ofThe Spectator, St. Louis.

[26]From a contemporary review inThe Mail and Express, N. Y.

[27]Among authors cited are Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Martial, Cicero, Seneca, St. Jerome, Juvenal, Tacitus, Plautus, Dion Cassius, Aulus Gellius, Aurelius Victor, Suetonius, Ovid, Ammianus Marcellinus, Tertullian, and a number of others.

[28]Wallace owes little in the chariot-race scene to Quinton’sThe Money God, though a similar scene inThe Money Godhas been pointed out.

[29]Arthur Hobson Quinn, Professor of English and (former) Dean of the College, University of Pennsylvania, inThe American Novel—Past and Present; Lectures by the Faculty, 1913-14, p. 302.

[30]J. M. Murray,The Problem of Style, (1922); quoted inThe Classical WeeklyFebruary 26, 1923.

[31]The Temptation of St. Anthonyis probably the best example of dream literature in the world, and Mr. E. L. White may have had in mind this method of transporting one’s thoughts to the past, when he was collecting material forAndivius Hedulio(1921).

[32]See his letter to Mr. Maurice, January 16, 1851 (already quoted), inCharles Kingsley, Letters and Memories of His Life, ed. by his wife, abr. from London ed.,Scribner’s, 1894.

[33]Author’sNote to the Reader.

[34]Walter Pater, a Critical Study, by Edward Thomas, N. Y., 1913.

[35]Mr. F. S. Dunn, while speaking with due reverence of Pater’s chaste diction and chaster ethics, notes two trifling errors made inMarius the Epicureanin regard to the topography of Rome. (F. S. Dunn,The Historical Novel in the Classroom,—Classical Journal, April, 1911.)

[36]Quinton inThe Money God, had spoken of the two favorite bears of the Emperor Galerius, giving as his source Lactantius,de Morte persecutorum, cap. 21.

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