''Hortensius, Friend of Nero'' is a 1936 novel by

Edith Pargeter Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her ''nom de plume'' Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translat ...

. In it, Hortensius attempts to save the Christian wife of a friend

in the arena ''In the Arena'' is an American one-hour show on CNN that premiered October 4, 2010 as ''Parker Spitzer'' and was hosted by former New York Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer and Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Kathleen Parker. It was b ...

, an act for which he is forced to flee by

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

, along with a Persian slave whom he falls for.https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/17527510?q&versionId=231340329 NLA It was Pargeter's first

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

References

1936 novels Novels set in ancient Rome {{1930s-novel-stub