The Purple
Shroud (hardcover 2012, paperback 2013) is a sequel to Theodora (hardcover
2010, paperback 2011).
The first volume covers the first half of Theodora’s life. She was born in 500 and grew up in Constantinople as a member of a poor family. After
a dramatic journey to Libya, Egypt, and Syria, she returned to Constantinople in 521, where she met Justinian,
whose uncle Justin was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. In 525 she married Justinian. In
527, when he succeeded his uncle on the throne, she became his empress and the
most powerful women in the Byzantine Empire.
The second volume covers the second half of Theodora’s life, i.e. her time as empress, from the
coronation in 527 until her death in 548.
Both
volumes are historical novels, based on a true story: the author can use her
imagination to fill the gaps between the historical facts, but she cannot change
them or go against them. Unfortunately, this rule is broken more than once.
There are
two illustrations: a map of the Mediterranean world and a map of Constantinople. The map of
the Mediterranean world has been slightly improved compared with the map in
the first volume. A few mistakes have been corrected:
* The
distance marker now covers 500 km and 500
miles, instead of only 200 km and 200
miles
* Portus
has been changed to Ostia
* Cyrene is now placed inland, and not on the
coast
But several
mistakes are simply repeated. We still have:
* Cartegena
instead of Cartagena
* Teuchita
instead of Teuchira
* Trebizond instead of Trapezus
* A dotted
line marking the “Roman” Empire instead of the “Byzantine” Empire
I liked the
first volume, and I was looking forward to reading the second. My expectations
were high. Unfortunately, they were not fulfilled. Let me explain my reasons:
(1) The
novel gets off to a rather slow start.
(2) The text
is divided into 41 chapters which follow a chronological line, but the author is
not consistent. Some time indicators are misplaced, or wrong, revealing that in
some cases Duffy lost track of her own chronology. Here are some examples:
** Chapter
2 takes place ten years after Theodora and Justinian met, i.e. we are in 531
and Theodora is 31 (page 17). But in chapter 4 we are told she is 28 and her
husband 46, so now we are back in 528 (page 35). The time indicators are wrong:
chapter 2 must be in 528, when she is 28, seven years after they met, and
chapter 4 must be in 531, when she is 31 and her husband 49.
** Chapter 19 includes
the phrase “Theodora, fourteen years fully faithful to Justinian” (page 166),
which places the chapter in 535. But this cannot be true, because everything
else points to 533: the Nika Revolt of 532 is in the past, while the conquest
of Africa, which began in 533, in still in the planning stage. The
phrase should be “twelve years fully faithful.”
** Chapter 23
covers the triumph of Belisarius in 534 celebrating the conquest of Africa. On page 205 the author mentions
the “treasures the Vandals had taken during the sack of Rome a hundred years earlier.” But the
sack of Rome took place in 455, and this is only 79 years before 534.
(3) In chapter
9 Duffy covers the beginning of the Nika Revolt: six suspects were kept in
custody: three Greens, three Blues. Two of them were released, while four were
sentenced to death. Two Greens, two Blues. Two were hanged, and two survived,
because the trapdoor did not open (page 77-85).
Her version
contradicts several modern accounts which are based on the ancient evidence:
seven suspects were sentenced to death, four were to be beheaded and three to
be hanged. One was hanged, but two survived, one Green and one Blue, because
the rope broke and they fell to the ground, still alive.
** J. B.
Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, 1923, reprinted 1958, vol. 2, page 40
** William Rosen,
Justinian’s Flea, 2007, page 92
** James
Allan Evans, The Power game in Byzantium, 2011, page 74.
(4) In chapter
3 we are in 530. A petitioner comes before Theodora.
He says his name is Stephen and that they have met before. After a while the
empress remembers that they met briefly in Alexandria many years before (ca. 519).
The meeting
in Alexandria is described in the first volume,
Theodora, pp. 142-143.
Stephen, who
is an artist, says: “I want to create the mosaics for the new church in Ravenna.”
Theodora says
the work has just begun, and it will be many years before anyone can start to
work on interior decorations. The artist is prepared to wait, but he wants to
have the contract and the imperial seal of permission. When the audience is
over, Theodora grants him his wish.
While the
meeting is possible, the conversation is not. The church in question is San
Vitale. There are two famous mosaics in the apse: on the left Justinian and his
court, on the right Theodora and her court. When work on the church began, in
525 or 526, Italy was still ruled by the Goths. The
conquest of Italy began in 535. Belisarius entered Ravenna in 540, and the church was
completed by the Byzantines in 547 or 548, but Theodora could not know anything
about this in 530.
Theodora
mentions the Goths in her response, but she does not say that they are in
control of Italy. She accuses them of making a
“fuss.” Her response does not make any sense.
The war
against the Goths is mentioned in later chapters. Duffy knows Italy was ruled by the Goths for many
years, but in chapter 3 she chooses to ignore this inconvenient fact.
While
Stephen’s conversation is brief, it is a key element in the overall structure
of the book. The artist appears again in chapter 41 (the last chapter of the
book) where he is completing the mosaics in the church in Ravenna: “Theodora taking shape.”
It is a
wonderful idea: the mosaics in San Vitale are made by an artist, who met
Theodora in 519, and who received her personal permission to do the work in
530. But it does not fit the historical facts. What we have is an anachronism.
(5) Peter
Barsymes, a trader from Syria, who worked with Justinian and
Theodora, is mentioned several times. He wants to break the Chinese monopoly on
silk production. In chapter 40 we are told he succeeded, when he hands a sample
of silk made in Constantinople to the empress who is dying from cancer. When Theodora dies, her body is
covered by purple silk: “the City’s silk for the City’s Empress.”
This
version goes against several modern accounts which are based on the ancient
evidence. John Julius Norwich (1997) says silk production in the Byzantine Empire began in 552-553. John Peter Wild (2003)
says 552-554. Patrick Hunt (2011) says 552-563. They all say production began
several years the death of Theodora in 548. What we have here is another
anachronism.
I can add
some minor flaws:
(A) On page
184 we meet a person whose first name is Jacob. His last name is mentioned two
times on this page, the first time he is called Baradeus, the second time Baradaeus.
Which one is it? The first version Baradeus appears again on page 259, while
the second version Baradaeus appears again on pp. 235, 294 and 341. The latter
version is correct: Jacobus Baradaeus was born ca. 505 – he was five years younger
than Theodora - and served as the Bishop of Edessa from 543 until his death in 578.
(B) One
page 184 Duffy says: “Timothy, who’d known the preacher in their youth…”
It
should be “in his youth.”
(C) On page
248 Duffy says: “They were Justinian…”
It should be “He was Justinian.”
(D) In the
acknowledgements before page 1 Duffy says: “Gratitude, as always, to my wife
Shelley Silas.” As a female writer Duffy may have a female partner, but she
cannot have a wife. Only a man can have a wife. But change is on the way: same
sex marriage became law in England and Wales in July 2013. BBC News reported on 17
July 2013:
“It is expected that the first gay and lesbian wedding ceremonies will take
place by summer next year [2014].”
As far as I can see, these flaws are not mentioned or discussed by other reviewers. Perhaps because they decided to ignore them. Perhaps because they failed to notice them.
Taken one
by one, the flaws may seem minor. Taken together, they become a serious
problem. While there are some good parts in this book, they are spoiled by the
bad parts where Duffy changes historical facts in order to suit her vivid
imagination.
My overall
impression is a feeling of disappointment: the second volume is a bit longer
than the first, but only half as good.
* * *
Stella Duffy,
The Purple Shroud,
Virago, hardcover 2012, paperback 2013, 390 pages
* * *
