''The Course of Honour'' is a historical novel by

Lindsey Davis Lindsey Davis (born 1949) is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of historical crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire. She is a recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger award. Life and career ...

, 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 ...

and concerning the emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

and his lover

Caenis Antonia Caenis or Cenide, (died 74 AD) a former slave and secretary of Antonia Minor (mother of the emperor Claudius), was Roman emperor Vespasian's '' contubernalis''. Life It could be thought that she had family in Istria, now in Croatia, b ...

. It was the first novel Davis wrote which was set in ancient Rome, but was not published until 1997 after she had become known for the Falco series. Davis has said "I see it as my first real book, and because the true story is so wonderful, it will always be my favourite."

Translations

The book has been translated into

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

by Alberto Coscarelli, and published by Edhasa as ''La carrera del honor: Caenis y Vespasiano'' (). It has also been translated into Italian by Maria Elena Vaccarini, and published by

Marco Tropea Editore Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

as ''La forza dell'onore'' (). The first American edition (1998

Mysterious Press The Mysterious Press is an American publishing company specializing in mystery fiction based in New York City. The company, founded in 1975 by Otto Penzler, has been associated with various publishing companies over the years, most recently with ...

) was published with the American English spelling ''The Course of Honor''. The current United States edition (2009, St. Martin's Griffin) carries the original title.

References

External links

* ''UK publisher's website, including sample pages.'' * ''US publisher's website'' * British historical novels Novels set in ancient Rome Novels by Lindsey Davis Novels set in the 1st century 1997 British novels Century (imprint) books {{1990s-AncientRome-novel-stub