Santiago Posteguillo Gómez is a Spanish philologist, linguist and author, born in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

in 1967. He has become known for a number of novels set in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, especially his

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military com ...

and

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

trilogies.

Biography

Academic career

Santiago Posteguillo achieved his doctorate at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ca-valencia, Universitat de València ; also known as UV) is a public research university located in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest surviving universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Vale ...

. He went on to study creative literature in the United States at

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

, in Granville, and linguistics and translation at several universities in Great Britain. He is currently senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the

Universitat Jaume I Jaume I University ( es, Universidad Jaime I, ca-valencia, Universitat Jaume I, UJI; ) is a university in the city of Castelló de la Plana, Valencian Community, Spain. It was founded in 1991, and it has approximately 14,000 students. The camp ...

, Castellón, Spain, specialising in 19th-century fiction. He pays attention to the Elizabethan theater and the relationship between English and American literature with film, music and other arts. He is also president of the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes (AELFE), and a member of the Editorial Board of the international journals ''English for Specific Purposes'' and ''Written Communication''. He is author of over seventy academic publications, including ''Netlinguistics: Language, Discourse and Ideology in Internet'' (2003) and the ''Spanish Computing Dictionary: English-Spanish, Spanish-English'' (2004). He lives in

Puçol Puçol (; es, Puzol) is a Spanish municipality located in the province of Valencia, part of the Valencian Community autonomous region. It belongs to the Horta Nord. The municipality borders El Puig south and Sagunt (or Sagunto) to the north. ...

in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

'' of Huerta Norte, in the Valencian Community, Spain.

Writing

Posteguillo started by writing crime novels, and during his time as a student at Valencia he used to write poetry.Mónica Fuentes, ''“Africanus, Son of the Consul" is a novel for learning about ancient Rome in an easy and entertaining way''
interview with Posteguillo
Espéculo
magazine No. 34, 2007; accessed 14 October 2011. His first novel, ''Africanus: Son of the Consul'', was published in 2006 and formed the first part of his trilogy on

, the Roman general who defeated

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

in the

Battle of Zama The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC near Zama, now in Tunisia, and marked the end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio, with crucial support from Numidian leader Masinissa, defeated the Carthaginian ...

. The second part, ''The Accursed Legions'', was published in 2008, and by 2013 had reached its ninth edition. The final part, ''The Betrayal of Rome'', came out in 2009. The same year he revised the three novels, now bestsellers. In 2011 he published ''The Emperor's Assassins'', the first part of a new trilogy about the ascent to the throne of

, the first Roman emperor of Spanish origin. The trilogy continued in ''Circus Maximus'', published on August 29, 2013, and the final novel of the trilogy, ''The Lost Legion'', was published in the spring of 2016. He has also contributed to the newspaper ''

Las Provincias ''Las Provincias'' is a Spanish language regional newspaper published in Valencia, Spain. Founded in 1886 it is one of the oldest publications in the country. History and profile ''Las Provincias'' was first published in Valencia in January 1886 ...

''.

Awards

* Finalist, City of Zaragoza Historical Novel Award, 2009 for ''The Accursed Legions''. * Best Historical Novelist award, Hislibris 2009 for ''The Betrayal of Rome''. * Valencian Literature Award, 2010. *Valencian Lyrics Award 2010, in regard of his four historical novels up to that time. *Received an award at the Cartagena Historical Novels Week (''Semana de Novela Histórica de Cartagena''), 2010. * Literature Prize of the cultural programme ''Continuará'', La 2 channel of

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, 2012. *Nominated for Valencian Literary Critics Awards (''Premios de la Crítica Valenciana'') in the category of "essays and other genres" in 2013 for his work, ''The night when Frankenstein read Don Quijote'', and in 2014 for ''La sangre de los libros''. In the category of "narrative" his novel ''Circus Maximus'' was nominated in 2013. *Winner of the Barcelona Historical Novel Prize (''Premio Internacional de Novela Histórica Barcino''), 2014. *Recognised as among the "Valencians of the 21st Century" by the newspaper ''Las Provincias''.

Works

Scipio Africanus trilogy

The first trilogy published. The author reconstructs ancient Rome during the republic. The plot includes events and real characters from the history of Rome. * ''Africanus: Son of the Consul ( Africanus: el hijo del cónsul)'',

Ediciones B Ediciones B is a Spanish publisher, which currently operates as a division of Penguin Random House. Ediciones B is headquartered in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; with branches throughout Latin America. It was established in 1986, but has its origin ...

, 2006. At the end of the 3rd century BC., Rome was at risk from the Carthaginian army under the command of one of the greatest military strategists of history,

. His alliance with Philip V of Macedonia planned the annihilation of Rome as a state and the division of the powers between Carthage and Macedonia. But fortune intervened to change this fact. A few years before the war started, a child was born who was destined to change the course of history: Scipio. * ''The Accursed Legions ( Las legiones malditas)'', Ediciones B, 2008. Scipio, known by the name of Africanus, who received many of the military qualities of his father and uncle, had also created some important enemies: Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal; and the Punic general Giscón. Enemies also survive in Rome, where Senator Maximus Q. Fabius forced Scipio to accept the task of leading the legions V and VI which stayed neglected for a long time in Sicily. * ''The Betrayal of Rome ( La traición de Roma)'', Ediciones B, 2009. The author resolves the questions that have been opened in the previous two novels.

Trajan trilogy

* ''The Emperor's Assassins ( Los asesinos del emperador''),

Planeta Planeta or El Planeta means (the) planet in multiple languages. It may refer to: Film, TV and publications * '' El Planeta'', a Boston-based Spanish language newspaper * ''El Planeta'' (Ecuador), an Ecuadorian newspaper, see List of newspapers in ...

, 2011. This story begins on September 18 of the year

AD 96 AD 96 ( XCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Vetus (or, less frequently, year 849 ''Ab urbe condita''). The de ...

and covers the following 35 years of Roman history, including a civil war, the Colosseum, the Praetorian Guard and border wars, and the rise of an imperial dynasty under Trajan. * '' Circus Maximus - Trajan's rage ( Circo Máximo - La ira de Trajano''), Planeta, 2013. In this second novel the emperor Trajan returns. This time, his life is in danger as an assassination plot is being prepared. The book covers the conquest of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

(present-day Romania) and the construction of the longest bridge in the ancient world. * ''The Lost Legion'' ('' La Legión Perdida''), Planeta, 2016. This covers Trajan's ambitions for conquest, under the shadow of the disastrous

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

campaign led by

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

150 years earlier.

Julia series

* ''Me, Julia'' (''Yo, Julia''),

, 2018. * ''And Julia Challenged The Gods'' (''Y Julia Retó a los Dioses''),

, 2020.

Other

* ''The night Frankenstein read Don Quixote ( La noche en que Frankenstein leyó El Quijote''), Planeta, 2012. A collection of short stories in which the author takes a look at some events of literature, revealing some of its secrets: the real writers of the works of Shakespeare or the real discoverer of the potential of Harry Potter.

References

External links

Santiago Posteguillo website

Bukus: the works of Santiago Posteguillo

Jacinto Antón. ''"Trajan would have been able to solve the present-day crisis"''
interview marking the publication of ''The Emperor's Assassins'',

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

digital, 13 October 2011
Evaristo Amado. ''"Rome always had great generals"''
interview with Posteguillo about ''The Betrayal of Rome'',

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

digital, 16 November 2009
"Human nature hasn't changed much during more than 2000 years of history"
interview in

La Voz de Galicia ''La Voz de Galicia'' ( en, The Voice of Galicia) is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. ''La Voz'' is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper ...

, 11 November 2009
''Africanus, el hijo del cónsul de Santiago Posteguillo''
review of ''Africanus: Son of the Consul'', Mónica-Serendipia blog, 23 September 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Posteguillo, Santiago People from Valencia Writers from the Valencian Community University of Valencia alumni Academic staff of Jaume I University 21st-century Spanish writers Spanish historical novelists Spanish male novelists 1967 births Living people