"Romajin-no Monogatari (XIV)" by SHIONO Nanami

This fourteenth book of the "Roma-jin no Monogatari" series contains the history of the Roman Empire between Constantinus and Theodosius, which corresponds to the middle and the later 4th century. Some researchers insist that the Roman Empire was destroyed at the end of Diocletianus, but Shiono continues writing this series until the last people who have Roman spirit was died.

The contents of this book is as follows.

The 1st part: Emperor Constantinus (Reign: 337-361)
The 2nd part: Emperor Julian (Reign: 361-363)
The 3rd part: Saint Ambrose (Reign: 374-397)

As you can see, the 3rd part is not titled 'Emperor Theodosius' but 'Saint Ambrose'. Theodosius declared the Christianity as the Roman national religion, and Bishops had more power than the Emperor! So the subtitle of this book is 'Kirisuto-no Syouri' which means 'The Victory of Christianity'. The end of the Roman Empire will come soon...

(Finished reading on Feb.23, 2008)


The more detailed Japanese version of this article is here!

Japanese character(s) (kanji)
* SHIONO Nanami : 塩野七生
* Roma-jin no Monogatari : ローマ人の物語
* Kirisuto-no Syouri : キリストの勝利