The Bottom Line
Hadrian's Wall is a work of (speculative) fiction set in an historical period of Roman Britain. A great romance, the conflict between Roman and barbarian, and highly motivated characters combine to make a classic-style story.
Pros
- Great story
Cons
- Roman history anachronisms and inaccuracies
- Romans treated as two-dimensional
Description
- The story is set in Roman Britain of 368, two centuries after the wall across Britain was built.
- Hadrian's Wall was to keep the barbarian invaders from the North out of Roman Britain.
- The Romans believe the Druids and other natives are human-sacrificing barbarians.
- "Cannibalistic" Christianity is a third, emerging force.
- The Roman aristocrats are presented as upright, uptight, 2-D prigs.
- Tribune Marcus Flavius has command of the wall because of his marriage to a senator's daughter.
- Valeria, the bride, captures the attention of men everywhere she goes.
- Valeria is kidnapped by the Celts.
- The Tribune does not send troops after her.
- The Celts relaxed attitudes towards women allow Valeria to thrive.
Guide Review - Review of William Dietrich's Hadrian's Wall
It's hard to evaluate William Dietrich's Hadrian's Wall for the Ancient/Classical History site because while it's a really good story, before it becomes engrossing, the reader faces a series of oddities or anachronisms. Would patrician Roman women have ridden sidesaddle in Britain? Why is a 19-year-old Roman woman still considered a child? William Dietrich partially explains some of the oddities when he says he asked women he knew about how they would react to given situations. Modern women of the industrialized world face choices that would have been unthinkable in the fourth century, when this story is set. Had Dietrich inquired of third world women, I think the story would have been more authentic, although it's still an odd way to do historical research. Thus, to recommend it from the point of view of a history site, it really should not receive four stars. However, in the way the story captivates the reader's interest, and the way the conflict and bloodshed is balanced with other, more pleasing social detail and romance, it is almost in a league with Morgan Llywelyn's historical fiction novels. In addition, there is a good deal of iconoclastic humor in the buffoonish portrayal of the Romans.
