SEVERUS: The Black Caesar

Here's an excerpt from a little chess analogy I couldn't resist..

Severus softly talks as he watches Geta and Lucius play a game of chess.
“It is said that war is little more than a glorified children’s game. Lines are drawn. Sides are chosen. Blood is shed. But what is not said, what is conveniently omitted, is the indelible marks they leave so painfully etched upon the human soul. Africans, Romans, Greeks. Are we not all of one blood? Are we not all of one race? So, to what end do we endeavour? For what purpose do we seek to assert dominance over our own kind? No other animal I have seen conspires to such a degree. Preferring to fight one’s common enemy rather than each other. Perhaps we are destined to always remain as children, repeating our mistakes and playing our fatal games.”
“Checkmate,” Geta says.
Geta extends his hand to shake but Lucius just looks at him. A slight crack of smile appears on Lucius’s face as he slaps his king across the room and exits.

@Benjamin-Barker

Just to clear that up: The Romans played Chess ??
And here I sit and thought it was brought to Europe by Crusader learning it from Arabs who in turn have learned it from the persians (Shah is persian) and they in turn from India...

@Ponderable

Read the book - Severus wasn't a Roman. 😉

@Benjamin-Barker

I might do so 😉

@Ponderable

Being such a chess fan I used a bit of dramatic license - Seveurs had a keen military mind that would have appreciated chess and he most certainly would have played "Latrones" (Ludus Latrunculorum) which is similar to "Go" (Fangqi).

@benjamin-barker removed their quoted post

You, kind Sir, are a true historian.
I sincerely look forward to learning more.
It's refreshing to have an authentic scholar in our midst.

@benjamin-barker removed their quoted post

"As a boy, Severus hated the Romans. He was involved with local freedom fighters, taking part in daring raids of sabotage against the Empire. But frustrated by this small-time rebellion and its petty violence, the keen-witted Severus embarked on a journey to Rome, taking him to the heart of the power that he despised.

Once there, however, the picture changes. Little by little, his exposure to Rome begins to change him and soon he finds himself in an ironic position: sent as a soldier from Rome to fight his fellow Africans, as they cross the Mediterranean and into Spain. His accidental military career gains him a reputation, and powerful friends."

- Benjamin Barker

I can't help but comment on the familiarity of this circumstance. It slightly coincides with that of Napoleon Bonaparte some 1600 years later. Very interesting indeed.

@Benjamin-Barker

Being such a chess fan I used a bit of dramatic license - Seveurs had a keen military mind that would have appreciated chess and he most certainly would have played "Latrones" (Ludus Latrunculorum) which is similar to "Go" (Fangqi).

For what it is worth, someone just told me that their chess game dramatically improved when he learned to play it the way you play "Go".

I know nothing about the game "Go". But he said he started winning more when he learned the value of concentrating on controlling areas of the board.

@ponderable said
@Benjamin-Barker

I might do so 😉

I've had one paperback sale in Germany - was that you?

@benjamin-barker said
I've had one paperback sale in Germany - was that you?

Most likely, the book arrived and is on place two in the to be read stack 😉
(finishing the Statrefiled book and then reading the library Yalom )

Now reading the book.

I will give you a detailed review after finishing. I can say already that it is an interesting Story.