Domitia

Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 507K words
Chapters: 51

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Domitia by S. Baring-GouldAuthor: Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 20, 2013

Editor's review

Domitia is a historical novel by the English writer Sabine Baring-Gould, set in ancient Rome and centered on the title character. Baring-Gould was by profession a clergyman and antiquarian, and his writing often combines historical research with romantic plotting, a tendency evident here: the descriptions dwell on the objects and customs of the period, while the characters' fates are interwoven with the power, religion, and family ethics of Roman society. Its value for readers lies not in psychological depth in the modern sense but in the access it offers to how nineteenth-century Englishmen imagined ancient Rome, and in what it reveals about how historical fiction uses plot to carry moral questions. Readers familiar with the basic outline of Roman history can treat it as light supplementary reading, noting the author's selection and adaptation of sources; literary scholars may focus on the period stamp of its narrative pacing and characterization. A caveat: the language and attitudes of the book bear the marks of its age, and it should not be read as a strict historical account. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and suits reading alongside a Roman history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy historical fiction set in ancient Rome
Beginners who want to become familiar with Roman society through fiction
Literature enthusiasts studying the nineteenth-century British historical novel tradition
Language learners who need public-domain English texts for reading practice

Not a good fit for

Roman historians expecting rigorous factual scholarship and academic annotation
Readers who prefer fast-paced modern narrative and strong suspense
Those uncomfortable with nineteenth-century literary style

Reading tips

First learn the basics of Roman politics and family institutions in the first century AD, then enter the plot.
Read the novel as a sample of period imagination, distinguishing literary invention from recorded history.
Note how the author portrays female characters and observe his moral assumptions.
Read alongside a concise Roman history and check the background as you go.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Domitia a real historical figure?

The title character is associated with several women of the same name in Roman history, but this is a historical novel: the plot and relationships are literary inventions and should not be treated as a factual biography. Readers can regard the novel as a nineteenth-century author's imaginative reconstruction of ancient Rome; for the real figures, consult specialized scholarship on Roman history.

Do I need prior knowledge of Roman history to read this book?

Not expert knowledge, but a basic background helps a great deal. Familiarity with the broad framework of Roman family institutions, religious customs, and Senate politics will help you understand the characters' motives and social conflicts. Complete beginners might first read a concise introduction to Roman history and then return to the novel; the reading experience will improve noticeably.

How difficult is the language?

The book is in nineteenth-century English, with long sentences and formal diction, so it reads more slowly than modern popular fiction. Readers with university-level English should generally cope; unfamiliar words can often be inferred from context. The Project Gutenberg edition is searchable, which makes it easy to look up recurring names and places.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924 Author

S. Baring-Gould (Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834–1924) was a prolific British author, with 49 of his works held in this collection. Public information about him is limited, but his writing interests clearly centered on religion, history, folklore, and local topography. His representative works include the multi-volume The Lives of the Saints, which presents saints' lives month by month; Curious Myths of the Middle Ages and A Book of Ghosts, which reveal his fondness for legend and the supernatural; and Strange Survivals, which explores ancient customs surviving in human history. He also wrote A History of Sarawak under Its Two White Rajahs 1839–1908, the travel book In Troubadour-Land on Provence and Languedoc, and Conscience and Sin, a Lenten devotional. His style combines erudition with accessibility, weaving historical sources, legends, and travel observations into highly readable narratives.