Rome in Africa
Leave a comment on today’s Mutterings for a chance at winning a copy of the Garment of Shadows ARC.
Among other oddities of this extraordinary country, Morocco was part of the Roman empire. As Hadrian’s Wall, between England and Scotland, marked the northern point of Rome’s West, the city of Volubilis occupied its south-western fringes.
Volubilis lies about forty miles from Fez, at the foot of the hills containing the shrine of Moulay Idriss. You can see both in this 1940s documentary, not very different from what Sherlock Holmes saw in late 1924:
The road turned north, bringing into view an unlikely piece of architecture, away in the distance.
“Is that the ancient city of the Romans?” he asked the man.
The man followed Holmes’ eyes to what could only be a triumphal arch and began a detailed story about the time his wife had got it into her head that what their farmyard needed was a stone entranceway and how much time he’d had to spend hauling blocks out of the place until she was satisfied.
Clearly, not a student of archaeology.
To read more from Garment of Shadows, go here.
To order a copy—hardback, audio, e-book, or signed—go here.
“The name of Volubilis is known both from ancient texts and from the abundant epigraphic material from the site itself Its origin is unknown but may be a Latinized version of the Berber name for the oleander, oualili, which grows in profusion on the banks of the wadi Khoumane that runs round part of the site.”
Cool.
Nobody’s ever sweating in those desert documentaries. and I know it’s bloody hot there.
haha…Love the excerpt–can’t wait to read it in full!
So anxious for this book and more details about the atmosphere and adventures Russell and Holmes will face.
Love the historical details in your books.
I did not realize the Roman Empire went so far south.
I love this excerpt!
oh Holmes. I love him.
This excerpt is definitely intriguing! I can’t wait for more Mary Russell. 🙂
It’s easy to imagine people picking up culture from other countries now, but it was amazing how much of it happened back when computers and mass communication on an international level were the stuff of fiction!
As a historian, I’m twitching in sympathy with Holmes. That’s as bad as finding church carvings in the mortarless sheep fences in Ireland!
The more you tell us about the new story, the more anxious I become to see Holmes and Russell in such a setting. Sweet, sweet torture…
I too always wonder why people don’t seem to sweat in these things. Maybe they simply adapt to their environment.
I love the name Volubilis — it puts me in mind of the word voluble, which seems apt for the farmer in the excerpt. 🙂
waiting for a new Laurie book is like waiting on Christmas
Holmes in Morocco is just about perfect.
I love your books, but especially your Mary Russell/ Sherlock Holmes series. I reread them every year. I keep my copies in my classroom library for students to read and I’ve gotten some kids hooked! How could they not be? 🙂
Can’t wait for the new book! Just beginning with a love of your Sherlock and Mary stories. On a side note, after reading the book with the aftermath for Mary from the earthquake in 1906, I read 3 more books that mentioned the event, an event I had forgotten from my history lessons. Now it is firmly in my brain. LOL
To be honest, I have nothing of any intellectual significance to contribute to this comment section, but I really would like to win an ARC 🙂
Very excited to read another Russell story, and particularly looking forward to immersing myself in another one of Ms. King’s beautifully researched and written worlds!
I can’t wait to read Garment of Shadows!
I also didn’t realize just how extensive the Roman Empire was. Details like that really make the books feel real. One of my favorites is “Oh, Jerusalem” because of those historical details and the general atmosphere of the book. It’s such an interesting time period.
My daughter spent one very hot summer studying Arabic in Morocco. She wanted to stay there forever! I love it when Russell and Holmes travel.
WANT a copy!!!
Thank you so much for the link to the UNESCO site. Amazing pictures and the mosaics are beautiful. Unlike the farmer, I am an archeology buff 🙂
Hi, I want to know that Pirate King, which I found weak, was an aberration! Love the earlier books!
Nice imagery – wish I had put more effort into that year of French in High School & continued with it instead of switching to Spanish
London must seem pretty boring (architecturally) for Holmes and Russell when they return home…
Garment of Shadows – beautiful title
Lovely as they are…and they are very, very lovely…these snippets are feeling like torture. I can’t wait to read the whole book!
Volubilis, eh? In that position, they must often have tried – and probably failed – to talk their way out of trouble.
What fun all of these daily lead-ins (lead-ups?) to the new book. I am loving every moment of it. Thank you. Thank you. I must add, it is also pure torture waiting for the new book – but the wait is made oh-so-fun with these daily treats.
Since i not a student of history, I did not know that Morocco was part of the Roman Empire. Very interesting.
If only I could meet Mary and Sherlock!
I’m really enjoying the photos and the daily updates!
The photos of these ruins are incredible. I would love to make a trip to Morocco, and I have a feeling this book is going to only feed that desire.
Ditto what Heather Wright said. I’m enjoying the photos so much — they really help with the mental imagery when I’m reading the book, for which I can’t WAIT!!!!
It’s a pleasure and a torture to be able to have a peek inside the world you’re creating. Mary Russell is probably my favourite heroine and it’s great to see her in so many different situations and circumstances!
Would love to win an ARC!
I love today’s photos (complete with bird’s nest) and the background information. The excerpt from Garment of Shadows is oh so enticing!
I’m so excited about the new book!
I was so surprised when I found this books. They were so wonderful that I read all of them (there were ten at the time) in one month. This books also helped me get my degree in English, turns out they are perfect for a thesis paper. I can’t wait for the new one.
Pictures are fabulous! LOVE the bird and nest!!
If I can’t get to all these places in real life, I suppose the next best is to read about them in your books. 🙂 Thanks!
How fascinating. Thank you for providing so much detailed information. It makes the books come alive.
Now I understand why you wrote The Pirate King! You needed it as a bridge to get Russell to Morocco! * People forget how much influence France had in North Africa as both a colonial and a modern power. I have a lovely pair of antique earrings from Paris in the ’20s and the pattern is Moroccan. The back of the screw is a rose.
It is always wonderful to look forward to a new Mary Russell book, can’t wait!
wow….I think my next vacation might have to be in Morocco….with GoS! 🙂
Thank you for this.
Roman ruins are my favorite!
It’s so difficult to wait for the book to come out–and to be in a position from which I can retrace Russell’ journeys in person.
One of the wonderful things about the Middle East is the Roman ruins that seem to pop up no matter where one roams. They were truly the master builders!
I never thought about the Romans making it that far west in Africa, though if they made it to England I guess it was never out of the realm of possibility.
In Alexandria (al-Iskandria), Egypt, they still have the ruins of ampitheatres and bath houses, and about 2 blocks up from the train station is a really well preserved one with a very impressive collection of statuary that they have brought up from the water.
2 friends of mine were just in Morocco visiting their daughter who is there on an exchange program. I can introduce them all to Russell and share the ARC if I win it.
It makes me shudder to think how often that has happened over the course of history….
I enjoyed the excerpt. Thank you!
Living in America, seeing and reading about the sheer weight of ancient history in other countries is mind-boggling. Seeing places that have been inhabited for centuries or even millenia is such a humbling reminder of the ephemeral quality of a human lifespan; I suppose this should be morbid but I think of it more as “carpe diem”!
May I have some more, please?
I love the homework for the new book. I will “bee” prepared when it comes out!
On a lesser scale, visiting a home for sale with beautiful woodwork including original pocket doors and being told of the previous visitor, who is an all cash buyer, saying how lovely the rooms would look if the walls were knocked out and the woodwork painted white…
I am amused by the Roman column with the stork? nest on top!
A column with a stork’s nest, ha! Just goes to show nature will take back what is hers. And the sunset behind the arches? Breath taking!
Hahaha! the excerpt was funny! although I would like to go to this place and see the ruins. I don’t get to travel much and these pictures make me want to take a yearlong summer vacation traveling among the ruins.
What lovely pictures. And I think these are just as Mary Russell would have seen them.
Love the pictures, can’t wait for the new book, pictures are setting the scene for it!
Those images from the forties! astonishing.//Meredith
Can’t wait for Garment of Shadows!
Love the pictures… now I need to read the book!
Haha this snippet made me laugh 🙂
I am always fascinated by the geographic range of significant Roman ruins!
As a former archaeologist it has always fascinated me to see what the ancients did with building materials that were ancient even in their time. Recycling at its best.
Oh my goodness! I am bursting with excitement!
Seeing the world through the eyes of Russell and Holmes is a great way to travel. : )
I loved the excerpt and the photos, especially the nest atop the column. Thank you for sharing so generously.
Morocco is one of my favorite places in the world! Where else could you take an overnight trek into the Sahara on camels, take in the sights/smells/sounds/tastes of a souq, enjoy a very proper Moroccan tea with a guitar-playing Kenny Rodgers imitator, marvel at the intricate calligraphy and architecture one moment and learn how to use a primitive squat toilet the next, stay up all night discussing western and eastern lifestyles around a fireplace after hiking through a magnificent gorge, choose to eat tajine or taco bell, stay in a traditional Bedouin tent or a meticulously run hotel, learn how to wrap an indigo blue turban from our Bedouin hosts and how to shop in a traditional Moroccan pharmacy in Marrakech with an up-to-date young woman. It is a place that lives in my dreams and memories! Some day, I will go back. As for now, I am anticipating my next journey with Russell and Holmes with great relish!!
i’m so glad you share your intensive research with us! thank you!
The pictures are beautiful! I’ve always longed to see Roman ruins, they built to last-even against time itself.