When I started the first story, Revolution?, I was reprising Carina, a favourite character from four of the main Roma Nova books. As with all writing, I didn’t know how long the story would be until I wrote it. It turned out at 24,000 words, neither a short story or novella for me.
To complement Revolution?, I turned to history which is rich with “what if” moments. I chose two important pivot points when a Roma Novan woman could have intervened – the Battle of Vienna and the Italian Risorgimento. If I had made them part of a continuous narrative of the history of Roma Nova, the result would have been twenty volumes! Short stories give us an ideal way to dip into that potentially very long narrative.
The stories appear to balance personal family secrets with major geopolitical crises. How did you approach weaving intimate emotional stakes into large historical and political events?
I love mixing the two. Women from the prominent Mitela family are serious players in Roma Nova in any period and would be aware of wider geopolitical events. When writing alternative history, it strengthens the story if the main character is in the middle of, and influencing, known events. Running emotional stakes along with political ones makes the story more exciting and naturally bring in conflict, fear, desperation, death, relief and triumph at the personal as well as political level.
Roma Nova has become a richly developed alternate-history setting across your work. How has the state evolved in your imagination since you first created it, and what new aspects of it are revealed in HEROICA?
When I started the series with INCEPTIO set in the 21st century, I had an outline of Roma Nova’s past history in my head so I could set the context of the backstory. This normally doesn’t get into the book.
As in real life, people are affected by past events, whether or not they are conscious of them. Our parents and grandparents’ lives were moulded by “the war”. Going further back, we still think about 1066 or the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 or Washington crossing the Potomac.
However, it wasn’t until my readers demanded the foundation story of Roma Nova that I had to go back to the late 4th century and write JULIA PRIMA and EXSILIUM firmly within the Ancient Roman environment and mindset.
AURELIA and the following three books are set in the late 1960s to early 1980s – a jumbled time of change, depression and opportunity. Also of gross sexist attitudes! I had to cast my mind back to fax machines and tapes for recording CCTV plus no mobile phones, even in Roma Nova.
But in Honoria’s Battle, Roma Nova, like much of Europe in the late 17th century, was emerging from the Early Modern period into the Age of Enlightenment so it was essential to reflect the values, fears, beliefs and technology of that time of transition.
If you build a world in an alternative timeline, you should evolve it in a similar way to the real one, although not necessarily in the same direction(!), otherwise leaving it static would look artificial and truly implausible.
Honoria Mitela’s storyline unfolds during the 1683 Battle of Vienna, a pivotal moment in European history. What kind of historical research informed this section of the novel, and what challenges came with blending real history and alternate history?
I tend to weave Roma Novan alternative stories into existing history so Honoria’s story had to fit into real events in 1683. Luckily, the siege and battle were full of complex characters and multinational forces, so one more contingent from another country would not alter the balance. Of course, in my story, Honoria’s contribution was the vital element that led to a favourable outcome! Military engineers were extremely good in Ancient Rome, so I’ve inserted the Roma Novan advanced technology of the 17th century into the plot. But as with any historical fiction work, you still have to know the weaponry, tactics and logistics of the time as well as the landscape, clothes and attitudes.
The women in HEROICA each seem to confront questions of duty, sacrifice and legacy. Was there a central theme or question you wanted readers to reflect on across all three timelines?
I didn’t set out to project a particular theme in any of the stories. Sometimes, one emerges naturally when you have finished drafting it. But yes, duty, sacrifice and legacy are all there as in all Roma Nova stories. Carina in the 21st century wouldn’t use such words but say it was about “doing the right thing”.
Carina Mitela investigates a modern rebellion while uncovering secrets tied to her own family. How important is the idea of inherited responsibility – or inherited guilt –in the novel?
Ha! Responsibility is a strong value in Roma Nova and in those who serve in military or administrative roles, it’s even more pronounced. The Twelve Families, descendants of the original founders, feel they have yet another layer of responsibility – an inherited one – in defending and championing their country. But they’re also hard-headed in that they protect their own family interests at the same time, both in the present and for their children in the future.
The title HEROICA suggests heroism, but heroism can take many forms. How do your three protagonists embody different kinds of courage?
Courage varies from persistence and undercover work by Carina who doesn’t hesitate to take risks, to Honoria, a soldier who sees her role is to lead others into battle unquestionably, to Statia who is more hesitant and measured, but finds it in herself to take the grimmest decision when she realises she has no other choice.
Across the three timelines, Roma Nova itself appears almost like a character in the story. What does the state symbolise for you as a writer?
That’s a tricky question! Probably an element of wish fulfilment where women’s roles, achievements and responsibilities are at least equal to men’s and naturally accepted as such. I have a lifelong fascination with Ancient Rome, all 1,229 years of it, so it was going to be the framework or rather the base layer for Roma Nova. And who doesn’t wish that a bit of toughness, organisation and sheer drive of Rome doesn’t still exist?
Your novels often place women at the centre of military, political and strategic decision-making. How intentional is your challenge to traditional historical narratives that sideline female leadership?
Completely intentional! Because women’s roles in much of the past were restricted and not publicly visible or accounted for, I wanted to see what could have happened if I mirrored those roles with women as the leaders. Despite remarkable exceptions such as Livia Drusilla or Galla Placidia, few women in the Roman period exercised direct influence, let alone power. Hence, Roma Nova had to be a 21st century world. I spent six years in the military working in a mixed unit where both men and women exercised authority. That set me wondering...
Readers of historical and alternate-history fiction are often drawn to “what if” scenarios. What do you hope readers take away from HEROICA about the relationship between history, identity and the choices individuals make?
“What if’ can be a very useful line of enquiry when studying and writing in a historical environment. Many important events hang on a missing letter, a decision not taken, the weather, germs, a meeting between two people or even a few words spoken in the wrong place or time. Considering what could have happened strengthens our view of what did happen and why it happened.
Identity comes from many sources – parents, wider family, environment, friendships, travel, lived experience and past history of where they are living. For the characters in Roma Nova, they know their place in the world, even if some of them are delinquent, greedy or power-grabbing. Individuals make their choices within that context, but like the rest of us in the real world, their motives can be mixed.
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Alison Morton
Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her twelve-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but use a sharp line in dialogue.
She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.
Alison lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her three contemporary thrillers, Double Identity, Double Pursuit and Double Stakes.
For the latest news, subscribe to her newsletter at https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/ and receive 'Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds' as a thank you gift.
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