A. THE FIRST TRUE NOVEL OF ROMAN LIFE
The first significant attempt in English to portray life in that period of the past during which ancient Rome flourished, in the form of the modern novel, appears in Valerius, a Roman Story. It is not to be regarded as a mere coincidence that its author was John G. Lockhart, a son-in-law of Sir Walter Scott. The year 1821, in which it was first published, was also marked by the appearance of Kenilworth and The Pirate. In Kenilworth, Scott owed much to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, a play with a classic subject. And while Scott was showing how the past could be presented in the novel, it was altogether natural that Lockhart, a classical scholar, should decide to make use of classic material in this form. Classic times had furnished abundant material and true inspiration in other forms of writing. Though Valerius is not a great novel, it has certain elements of permanent value. It is a very thorough and scholarly piece of work, well-balanced and accurate in detail. Its characters, Christian and pagan, are fairly well-done, and its scenes represent, with some degree of realism, the amphitheatre, the crowded streets of Rome, the law-court, and the suburban villa. While Christianity is not overemphasized, the martyrdom of Thraso, an old soldier, who has become a Christian, is described with real pathos. The story is laid in the time of Trajan, who is justly represented as a popular ruler, and not a cruel tyrant. The customary use is made of Pliny’s correspondence with Trajan, regarding treatment of the Christians. The book is not without humor, though its general tone is serious and it contains a little too much philosophy. It was republished in 1835, the year after Bulwer’s Last Days of Pompeii. Valerius may fairly be considered the first novel of Roman life. This seems to be implied by Cardinal Newman, who mentioned it many years later in his preface to Callista.