In search of Babylon's dragons - Katherine Roberts

Over the past month, I've been painting the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (for the e-covers of my Seven Fabulous Wonders series, but that's just an excuse for some fun). In doing so, I unearthed one of the strangest creatures in history... the Babylonian "dragon", shown here on the Ishtar Gate, constructed around 575BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II:

 The Ishtar Gate... with a Babylonian dragon?

The two children are playing a game called Twenty Squares - sometimes called the Royal Game of Ur - on a simple board scratched into the pavement, just as the guards of Babylon might have done to pass the long hours of their shift. The walls of Babylon are blue-glazed brick with gold bricks for decoration, and on the gate you can see two types of creature that are extinct today - aurochs and sirrush. The dragon perched on the top left is obviously my fantasy side rearing its ugly horned head... but in case you think I've invented the creatures entirely, here is a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, which uses the original bricks found at Babylon:

Ishtar Gate of Babylon - reconstruction, Berlin

There also is/was (I believe it suffered in the recent war) a replica of the Ishtar Gate in Iraq, too:

Replica of the Ishtar Gate in Iraq

You may scoff at the idea of flying, fire-breathing dragons straight out of a fantasy novel. But auroch skeletons have been found, and the bulls shown on the Ishtar Gate are now accepted as an extinct creature that once roamed the banks of the Euphrates. So why not the other creature... the dragon?

Take a closer look:

sirrush  (from Koldewey's The Excavations at Babylon, 1914)

You'll see it has a single straight horn in the middle of its forehead and a curly horn (or ears?) at the back. It also seems to have scales and a thin lizard-like body, much like dragons that could possibly be descended from dinosaurs. It has bird-like claws on its hind legs, but those paws on its forelegs look more like a lion's, and it seems to have hairy (or feathery?) legs. Significantly, it has no wings. Some people think it might actually be a unicorn - another creature that has made the leap into legend. The Babylonian texts call it a 'sirrush' or 'mushussu'/'mushkuku' (depending on how you interpret the cuneiform), and it is shown on cylinder seals of the period being led by a halter, where it appears to be about the size of a large dog.

So what do you think? Did this creature exist? Have we just not found its skeleton yet, or maybe mistaken its bones for those of other creatures - lions/birds/lizards? In my story, the sirrush sheds its skin like a snake and emerges with a pair of beautiful wings, explaining how it might have flown away into legend. 

It's not too big a leap of imagination (at least not for me!) to believe a few remaining dragons might have been kept alive in a royal garden or park such as the second Wonder of the Ancient World, the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Perhaps this vanished Wonder was actually an exotic zoo, as imagined by my Japanese publisher?

Japanese edition of The Babylon Game

Whether Babylonian dragons existed or not, they are certainly alive and kicking in my book. And now they have entered the 21st century on the ecover, which after some digital wizardry looks like this:

 

 ***

Katherine Roberts' Seven Fabulous Wonders series is re-available as ebooks for Kindle and epub formats, or you can download the complete collection of seven books for half the combined list price as the Seven Fabulous Wonders Omnibus.

More Seven Wonders paintings at Reclusive Muse.

www.katherineroberts.co.uk

Have written a fairytale. Will travel? Not always! – Katherine Roberts

In less than a month, Grail of Stars, the final book of my Pendragon Legacy quartet for young readers about King Arthur’s daughter, will be published – at least it will be published here in the UK. But not as yet in the US, since this series is considered “too English” for the American market.

Too English!

King Arthur

Well, yes... this series is based on the legend of King Arthur, who was inescapably an English king and/or warlord, if he existed - of which there is some doubt. But King Arthur is killed in battle the day before the first book begins, so my series is actually about his daughter Rhianna Pendragon, a purely fictional character, and her three young friends – also invented by me, one of whom is a fairy and decidedly un-English (though I have to admit he’s not exactly an American fairy, either!)

And yes, as a traditional background for Rhianna’s quest, I did place my Camelot in Somerset on Cadbury Hill, and I located one of the gateways to the enchanted isle of Avalon a few miles away at Glastonbury Tor – although Avalon itself, being fairyland, could be anywhere, even in America. Other ‘English’ scenes are my battles, one of which takes place at Hadrian’s Wall (so possibly our northern cousins would dispute that), and there are plenty of dragon capers around the Welsh valleys in the third book - again not really English. Some of the action in the books takes place on the shores of Avalon, and the fourth book takes my characters across the sea to the Grail Castle - another enchanted location, and maybe somewhere you can reach by boat from English shores, which leaves things wide open, though my bet’s on France.

But I can see what American publishers mean. After all, this is not the first time one of my creations has failed to travel across the Pond. My Seven Fabulous Wonders series - a mixture of fantasy and history based on the old gods and monsters of the time - also failed to sell to an American publisher, since although these books are not English, they were considered “too European” for the American market.

Too European!

The Great Pyramid at Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (my own painting).

They were maybe even a bit too European for the English market, according to a recent survey reported by the Daily Mail. Apparently, only 61% of the British population can name one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the most popular choice being the Great Pyramid (though asking which of the three pyramids at Giza is the actual Wonder might reduce that percentage - if you're curious, it's the oldest one on the right, also the largest, the tomb of Khufu). Only 21% can name a second Wonder on the list, and a mere 6% can list all seven. In fact, an embarrassing 12% of Britons today cannot name a single one, and consider these monuments listed by the ancient Greeks as the wonders of their world to be boring! I suppose the clue is in that word “ancient” – those largely vanished old temples and statues have a bit more competition now that we have so many more modern wonders to marvel at. Also, remember, the world of the ancient Greeks was based around the Mediterranean and Persia, which did not include America.

If you are a US publisher, you'll probably gently remind me at this point that publishing decisions are based on other factors than geographical boundaries, that it’s an increasingly cut-throat business, and everyone is watching the bottom line these days. All of which I understand – I’m no starry-eyed debut author, and I'm not picking on our American cousins by any means, since the same could be said of books that do not travel to China, or even fail to make the short hop across the channel into modern Europe - although in their case there is an extra cost involved with the need to translate the story into a different language. Happily, my Seven Fabulous Wonders did eventually make it into 12 languages, perhaps proving their European appeal, and the Pendragon Legacy is making a good start with French and Turkish deals agreed and others hopefully in the pipeline.

Yet it seems this failure of fantasy stories (which are essentially fairytales, and therefore ought to travel quite easily) to cross geographical boundaries is not a recent thing. I bought this book from a second-hand bookstall the other day, because I fell in love with the beautiful cover:

It is a collection of the original fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, who lived in 18th/19th century Germany, and contains some of perhaps the most famous fairytales of all time. There are detailed notes on the stories in the back, and I was particularly fascinated by the “omitted tales”, and the reasons they were thrown out of this collection at some stage.

These omitted tales include:

Too French!

The Nightingale and the Blindworm, Puss in Boots, Simple Hans, Bluebeard, Okerlo, and Princess Mouseskin were all omitted in 1819 because of their French origins. (Any historian out there hazard a guess as to why?)

Too Scottish!

The Hand With the Knife was omitted in 1819 because of its Scottish origins.

Too Dutch!

The Castle of Murder was omitted in 1819 due to its Dutch origins.

Too Mongolian!

The Faithful Animals was omitted in 1850 because it came from a collection of Mongolian tales.

And a couple of other reasons not really to do with geographical boundaries, but more with culture:

Too Historical!

The Children of Famine and Saint Solicitous were omitted in 1819 because they were too much like legend. (Um, King Arthur's daughter, are you listening?)

Too Gruesome!

How some Children Played at Slaughtering, The Stepmother, and The Children of Famine (doubly unpopular, that one, it seems.)

As you've probably noticed, the omitted tales include some of our best-known fairytales such as Puss in Boots and Bluebeard, so clearly fashions change over time, and also change when stories cross geographical boundaries. How Some Children Played at Slaughtering could even be an early forerunner of  The Hunger Games, one of our most popular YA series today!

So maybe I should not be too upset by “too English” and “too European”, or even "too historical" and "too gruesome"? I am after all an English author and have always felt more European than American culture-wise, even if we do share a language. Perhaps that is why my muse is drawn towards European legends and history? Also, writing something European does not necessarily mean it won’t be published in America – it just has a harder time over there. For example, my Alexander the Great novel from the horse's mouth I am the Great Horse, which one American reviewer (the 2 star one if you follow the B&N link) slammed as unsuitable for children due to its gruesome battle scenes and suggestion of homosexuality, had a hardcover American edition. It did not in the end make it into paperback over there – although I am happy to report this book is now available worldwide as an ebook (see below), crossing geographical boundaries at the click of a key.

The main downside of such labels, of course, is financial. The American market, love it or hate it, is essential in terms of making a living at this writing business. I am now in that scary space between books when I need to decide what to write next, and embarking on new work that I know is going to slam into a geographical wall is probably not the most sensible thing for my career right now.

Of course, in hindsight, I could have set my Greek gods and monsters from the Seven Fabulous Wonders in an American summer camp (like Percy Jackson), or put King Arthur’s daughter and Avalon in space (like the other Pendragon Legacy), shaking off their “too European” and “too English” objections at the outset. No doubt the same approach would work for many other English or European ideas. But they would have lost some of their essential culture and soul along the way. The book that is really begging me to write it next – the one I started last week, meaning to do an hour maybe and ended up writing into the night – is set in ancient Rome. European history again, arghh! I haven’t dared tell my publisher about it, because I do have more American-friendly fantasy series idea, although in the wayward manner of my muse I’ve not written a word of that one yet.

I just know what my editor is going to say...

***

Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fantasy for young readers.

Visit her website for more details www.katherineroberts.co.uk

If you are a slightly older reader, you might like to try her Alexander the Great novel,

now available as an ebook from:

Amazon for Kindle

Apple itunes

Kobo

Nook

A Brief History of the Olympic Torch – Katherine Roberts

As this post goes up, the Olympic torch will be on its way around Britain as it makes the long journey from Olympia in Greece to reach the 2012 London Games. It has already passed through my local town, where it was greeted by flag-waving children and excited people like me (wishing they were taller!) trying to get a decent photo:

Here it comes...

Sport and sponsors
The torchbearer was accompanied by a surprisingly large convoy of vehicles, with the sponsors taking the opportunity for some roadside advertising. Here is the bus that collects the runners after they have passed on the flame (spot the torches!):

 
Propaganda
The torch has been a symbol of the modern games since 1928, when it was first lit on the Marathon Tower at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. But the tradition of bringing the flame from Olympia by relay was actually started by the Nazis in 1936 for the controversial Berlin games as a propaganda exercise, linking the ancient Greek athletes (believed by Hitler to be an early example of the Aryan race) to the German Reich.

The Olympic flame arrives in Berlin for the 1936 games

Peace and friendship
These days, the Olympic flame represents friendship, unity and peace. It is lit by the sun’s rays reflected in a mirror at the site of goddess Hestia’s ancient temple in Olympia, Greece. Then it is transported by relay to the current location of the games, mostly carried by runners on the road, but also by various inventive ways over (or under) sea and land between:

1948: flame crossed the English Channel by boat
1952: flame flew for the first time by aeroplane to Helsinki
1956: flame carried on horseback to Stockholm.
1976: flame transferred by a radio signal from Athens via satellite to Canada, where the signal triggered a laser beam to re-light the torch (my favourite!)
2000: flame carried underwater by divers near the Great Barrier Reef
2012: flame flew on a plane called “Firefly” from Athens to Land’s End to start its journey to London.

Religion
At the ancient Olympics, the flame did not have so far to travel since the games were always held in the same place as part of a five day religious festival dedicated to the god Zeus. In those days, the torch relay was a religious procession, when victorious athletes carried the sacred fire from the temple of the goddess Hestia (where it burned permanently), around the altars of the various gods and goddesses in the precinct, finishing at the temple that housed the famous statue of Zeus Olympia - one of the Wonders of the Ancient World:

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia - if he stood up, he would raise the roof!

The Olympic flame plays an important part in my Seven Fabulous Wonders book "The Olympic Conspiracy", which is set in 328BC at the 113th Olympiad, shortly after Alexander the Great burned Persepolis as part of his Persian campaign. I was fascinated by the fact that both the Greeks (with Hestia’s fire) and the Persians (with their religion of Zoroaster) had eternal flames that were never allowed to go out. So I linked these fires in my plot for the book, and invented some Persian sorcerer-terrorists called the Warriors of Ahriman, who disrupt the Games by using the sacred flame to bring a Persian army into ancient Olympia:

The Warrior raised his arms against the brooding sky, purple flames flaring from his hands, and cried in a terrible voice:
   “DEATH TO THE WORSHIPPERS OF ZEUS AND THE FOLLOWERS OF ISKANDER!”
    A terrified hush descended over the Altis. People seemed frozen with shock. Then someone shouted, “It’s a Persian sorcerer!” and panic broke out as everyone tried to push out of the enclosure at once. The crowds were so thick that blockages formed at the gates, and those who climbed the walls found themselves trapped by yet more crowds outside.

(History Girl disclaimer: This situation is very unlikely to happen in London, which we're told will have much better security and fewer sorcerers.)

Clearly, the Olympic torch has meant many things to many people since the fire was first lit on that ancient altar at Olympia. Religion, sport, propaganda, peace, a symbol of the modern games, inspiration for a story… what does the Olympic flame mean to you?


Katherine Roberts is a children's fantasy author.
Website http://www.katherineroberts.co.uk/
Blog http://reclusivemuse.blogspot.com/

"The Olympic Conspiracy" is one of the Seven Fabulous Wonders series, first published in 2004 by HarperCollins and now available as an ebook for Kindle:
£1-99 from amazon.co.uk
$3-99 from amazon.com

I wanted to be a warrior princess... Katherine Roberts

Lucy Lawless as Xena from the TV series Xena Warrior Princess  

You know how some authors always seem to be writing the same story? I don’t mean sticking with a single book or series, though this happens. But often we might use different characters, plots, settings, experiment with different genres and age groups, or even write to someone else’s brief, and yet the same THING always fights its way out of the pages. Cleverly published, an author’s THING becomes their "brand”, but it can take some time to find.

All of the authors on this blog are "history girls", of course. Yet history is a very wide ranging genre, especially when you venture into legend and myth, and although I've written books with historical backgrounds, I don't think "history girl" really describes me. (Mary will probably throw me off this blog now!) All my work has an element of magic, which puts me firmly on the legend and myth side of history, and I write for young readers so story is always more important than hard fact. But I never thought I had a THING until I got as far as formatting my latest Seven Fabulous Wonders title The Amazon Temple Quest as an ebook and realised that warrior princesses keep fighting their way into my pages in true Xena style.

In The Amazon Temple Quest, my warrior princess is called Lysippe. She is the youngest of her tribe, last of the legendary Amazon warrior race, on their way to join King Philip of Macedon’s army for his coming Persian campaign. They are also on a quest (hence the title) for one of the lost “gryphon stones” of their people, which ward off death. Before they reach Macedonia, however, Lysippe and her sister Tanais are captured by slavers. Tanais is badly wounded, leaving Lysippe to lead a daring escape attempt during which the runaways seek sanctuary in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

model of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Turkey.

Needless to say, Lysippe and Tanais are not your typical fairytale princesses with jewels in their hair, batting their eyelashes at handsome princes. They owe a fair amount to Xena, since their tribe lives without men. I located their home on the Scythian steppe, after reading about a grave discovered in Kazakhstan containing the bones of an unusually tall warrior queen buried with weapons. They wear leather leggings, carry half-moon shields, ride horses, and are armed with bows and arrows. But in keeping with the myth element of my Seven Fabulous Wonders series, the amazons in my book also have magical powers.

Seven are the signs of a true Amazon:

the yellow glare,

the sleep that heals,

a fighting spirit,

a blinding shield,

birth without man,

death without pain,

and the power to command a gryphon’s flame.

Yet they are vulnerable too, since despite being warriors they are not as physically strong as men. Here Lysippe has ridden out alone after arguing with her sister, and has just been captured by the slavers, who mistake her for a village girl…

She took deep breaths as her captor crouched before her and removed his helmet. He had pale silver hair and grime on his cheeks where dust had built up under the bronze. A jagged scar split his forehead above his left eye. Most unsettling of all, he had no eyebrows or eyelashes so there was nothing to soften that cold, blue glare. Lysippe made herself meet his gaze, though she still felt queasy from the pain in her ankle, and the bruises she’d suffered in her fall were beginning to hurt.
    He fingered the worn leather of her leggings. “Where are you from, slave? Where did you steal that horse?”
    “I’m an Amazon!” Lysippe said, trying to sound braver than she felt. She peered past him to see what had happened to Tanais. “Northwind’s mine – I didn’t steal him. And my mother and all her warriors are on their way back, so you’d better let me go!”
    The men who had stayed behind laughed.
    “Don’t lie to me, slave!” her captor growled. “Everyone knows Amazons are extinct.”
   
I've sneaked warrior princesses into other stories, including a short tale about Queen Boudicca's daughters that got shortlisted for the Library of Avalon Geoffrey Ashe Prize, and you might have noticed the Amazon queen made a brief appearance in "I am the Great Horse", my story of Alexander the Great from the horse's mouth (now sadly out of print in the UK).

Ten years later, and a slightly younger warrior princess has inspired a series of her own... King Arthur's daughter Rhianna Pendragon, whose first book Sword of Light comes out in February 2012 from children's publisher Templar for readers aged 9+. I'm quite excited about this, because for the first time my warrior princess has fought her way on to the cover. And although we are being careful not to make the book appear too girly in case boys are put off by that, Rhianna is very much the heroine.

(cover mock-up subject to changes in colour and finish)



You'll be hearing much more about Rhianna Pendragon next year, since Book 2 is due out at the end of 2012 and I am currently writing Book 3 in the series, but I hope you don't mind me giving you this little pre-Xmas taster to prove that you don't have to own a Kindle to read my work! I know you must be beginning to wonder... but this is not the place for lengthy explanations of why authors "go dark", so I'll save that for another day.

While inhabiting very different books and stories, all these warrior princesses have something in common. They are strong and brave, they ride horses and brandish swords and take on the men at their own game. They do not expect a handsome prince to fight their battles for them (although they wouldn’t say no if a prince happened along... with the possible exception of Xena, of course!). Yet they are not just sexier versions of kick-ass male warriors, as so many heroines written by male authors tend to be. My warrior princesses seek spiritual fulfillment as well as power and glory, which is an important element of my own writing as I swing my pen - or keyboard - instead of an imaginary sword.

The truth is I wanted to be Xena when I grew up… does that count as an author THING?

The Amazon Temple Quest ebook is now available at the promotional price of 99p until Dec 31st.

You can preorder Rhianna Pendragon's first adventure "Sword of Light" here (or, better still, wait until it comes to your local bookshop since this one will be a REAL BOOK - and a very beautiful one, too!)

More details on my website http://www.katherineroberts.co.uk/
Follow my unicorn on Twitter @reclusivemuse

The King and the Cynic – Katherine Roberts

Around 350BC, a man called Diogenes living in ancient Turkey shunned riches, left his family, and made his home in an old barrel. This made him famous throughout the ancient world, but many people could not understand him. He took to extreme measures the Cynic philosophy of the time, which claimed a person could not be happy unless they turned their back on the comforts of life, including their family and friends.

Diogenes had many adventures, including being kidnapped by pirates, and famously told Alexander the Great to “get out of his sun” when the conqueror came to visit him in his barrel and asked what he could do to help.

He sounds like a real character, and while downsizing to live in a barrel might be a bit extreme, it shows that people in the ancient world were asking the same questions about power and worldly goods that we are asking today.

With apologies to its original author Lucian, this is my version of one of the “Dialogues of the Dead” between Diogenes the Cynic and King Maussollos of Caria, whose tomb at Halicarnassus became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and gave us our word mausoleum.  

DIOGENES: Why, Carian, are you so proud and expect the rest of us to kiss your bony ass?

MAUSSOLLOS: Because I’m an important king-soul, of course! I was King of all Caria, ruler of most of Lydia… (gives long list of his achievements), and I wasn't bad looking, either. If they'd had the X-Factor in my day... blah blah blah.

DIOGENES: yawns.

MAUSSOLLOS: If you want proof, my tomb in Halicarnassus is bigger and cost more than everybody else’s! Look, here’s a picture of it. Have you ever seen such a beautiful tomb? Why shouldn’t I be proud of it?

DIOGENES: (examining picture) But we no longer have our bodies, so why do we need fancy tombs to put them in? Is your skull more handsome than mine because it stares at gilded statues? OK, so your mausoleum might be a popular tourist attraction, whereas my barrel has long since rotted away… but what good is it to you now? I bet it costs an arm and a leg to maintain the place. I’d be worried about that heavy marble roof caving in on me, if I were you.

MAUSSOLLOS: (dangerously but ineffectually since he can’t hold a sword any more) Are you trying to claim you’re my equal now?

DIOGENES: Don’t be soft! In a hundred years time, you’ll still be worrying about your great mausoleum there in Halicarnassus, while I’ll be free of all such worries and laughing at you. I don’t even know if I have a tomb, and I don’t care. I asked for my bones to be scattered outside the city walls for the dogs so I wouldn’t need one. I’m remembered for who I was, not what riches I had in the world. That has not changed with my death. Can you say the same, great king-soul?

MAUSSOLLOS: remains silent.

How would you answer Diogenes the Cynic?

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus provides the setting for The Mausoleum Murder, part of my Seven Fabulous Wonders series, now available as an e-book for Kindle at the special price of 99p until November 30th.

http://www.katherineroberts.co.uk/

Women banned from the Olympic Games! - Katherine Roberts

Imagine the uproar there would be today if women were banned from the Olympic Games!

Yet, when the original games were held at ancient Olympia in 776BC, women were not only forbidden to compete, they were not even allowed to watch... according to strict local law, any married woman discovered in the sacred precinct during the games festival could be taken up nearby Mount Typaeum and thrown to her death from a high cliff.

And yet, despite this harsh penalty, women of ancient times seemed as keen to get to the Olympic Games as they are today – either to win Olympic glory for themselves, or to watch their husbands and sons compete. So if you were a woman living back then, how would you manage it?

Here is a special History Girls guide to securing your ticket…

1. Disguise yourself as a man
After the death of her husband, Callipatira, daughter of the famous boxer Diagoras of Rhodes, took over the training of her son and disguised herself as a man so she could accompany him to Olympia and watch him compete. She was so excited when he won the boys’ boxing that she leapt out of the trainers’ enclosure, forgetting her disguise and exposing herself as a woman in the process. But the judges pardoned her because her father, brothers, and son had all been victorious in their events. They then passed a law that declared trainers must appear naked as well as the athletes, making such disguises impossible in the future.
History Girls verdict: spoil sports!

2. Become a priestess
The one married woman legally allowed to watch the games was the priestess of Demeter, chosen for each festival from among the wives of current celebrities, because the original Olympian sprint (a straight dash down the stadium for a distance of about 200 metres) used to be a suitors’ race for the hand of the goddess Demeter. She got to sit on a marble throne with the best view of the events, so not surprisingly this position proved very popular. In addition to this post of honour, many unmarried priestesses would have served at the temples of the goddesses Hera and Rhea in the sacred precinct at Olympia, and got good view of the games.
History Girls verdict: the gods work in mysterious ways.

3. Buy a horse
Both horse and chariot races took place in the Hippodrome at Olympia, and the prestigious olive crown went to the owner of the winning horses, not to the jockeys or charioteers hired to do the dangerous job of racing them. In this way Kynisca, daughter of the King of Sparta, “won” the chariot race twice in 396BC and 392BC, and had her statue erected in the sacred precinct at Olympia. She started a trend, and many other women trained horses that went on to win at the Olympic Games.
History Girls verdict: what is it with girls and horses?

4. Remain single
The Olympic judges had no problem with unmarried girls, or even with women “of dubious profession”, who were all permitted to watch the Games. In fact, the five-day festival was an excuse for parties, and with so many athletic men deprived of the company of their wives, the girls would have done a good trade.
HG verdict: the “oldest profession” has its perks!

5. Visit another year
The ancient Olympic Games, like those of today, took place once every four years. During the three years between, Olympia was perfectly safe for women, and girls could compete at special games of their own, the Games of Hera dedicated to Zeus’ wife. The only contest was the sprint, held over a distance of about 160 metres (40 metres shorter than the Olympic distance for men and boys), and fortunately the girls did not have to run naked.
HG verdict: sounds like a booby prize to me.

6. Build a time machine
The law against married women at Olympia was enforced well into the Christian era, despite the introduction of short foot-races for girls at the other three main games festivals held at Nemea, Corinth and Delphi. Even at the revival of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, there were no events for women, although they could attend as spectators without fear of the death sentence. It wasn’t until the second modern Olympic Games, held in Paris in 1900, that women were allowed to compete – though by this time chariot racing had turned into more ladylike pursuits such as tennis, and Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain became the first woman to win a gold medal at the modern Games by winning the tennis singles.
HG verdict: Up the Girls!

A version of this article was first published in The Lady, 2004.

Katherine Roberts’ "The Olympic Conspiracy" (part of her out-of-print Seven Fabulous Wonders series for ages 10+) is now available as an e-book for the special introductory price of 86p / 99c until October 31st.

Buy from amazon.co.uk

Buy from amazon.com

http://www.katherineroberts.co.uk/

Statues of Liberty – Katherine Roberts

Watercolour by M Kupka from a set of pictures of the Seven Wonders commissioned in 1922

The story of the Colossus of Rhodes is close to my heart at the moment. I have just republished my historical fantasy “The Colossus Crisis” independently as an e-book, and in so doing realised that this ancient statue stood for the very same choices authors are having to make in today’s brave new publishing world - the struggle for autonomy in uncertain times.

THE FACT
Erected on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in around 282BC, this gleaming bronze statue of the sun god Helios quickly became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and a popular tourist attraction for travellers of the time. When I show the above picture in schools, children always think it is the Statue of Liberty in New York, and that’s no accident. Both statues were erected over harbours, and both stand for the same thing: independence and freedom from oppression. In fact the Statue of Liberty, dedicated in 1886 to commemorate the French and American revolutions, was fashioned with the Colossus of Rhodes very much in mind… a perfect example of history reflecting through time.

Statue of Liberty, New York

The story of the ancient statue goes like this:

After Alexander the Great’s death (which is where we left my last post), nobody was strong enough to hold his vast empire together. He died without leaving an heir, so his generals fought over his empire and divided it up between them. Antigonus One-Eye seized power in Asia, Ptolemy took over Egypt, and the little island of Rhodes was caught between the two.

Antigonus wanted the Rhodians to join him in his war against Ptolemy I of Egypt, but since Rhodes enjoyed a prosperous trading relationship with nearby Egypt, they refused. So Antigonus sent in his son Demetrius with his siege engines, including a fearsome armoured tower called “Taker of Cities”, backed up by an army of 40,000 soldiers, 200 warships, 30,000 engineers and 170 transport ships... "Shock and Awe" tactics, ancient world style! He expected to crush Rhodes within the week.

The siege lasted a year, with even the Rhodian slaves fighting to the death on the walls beside their masters, after which Antigonus was forced to lift the siege and agree to the islanders' terms, which were to be an independent people free to trade with whoever they wanted. Impressed by their bravery, Demetrius left behind all his siege engines, which the Rhodians dismantled and sold, using the profits to erect an enormous bronze statue to their sun god Helios in thanks for their victory. Designed by Chares of Lindos, this famous Colossus stood around 110 feet tall (by comparison the Statue of Liberty is almost 152 feet tall), and was by far the tallest statue on Rhodes, which already had about 100 smaller colossi dotted about the island.

Inscribed on its base were the words:
“To you, O Helios, the people of Rhodes raised this bronze colossus high up to heaven after they had calmed the waves of war and crowned their city with spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of independence, for to the descendents of Hercules belongs dominion over sea and land.”

Imagine that great statue, standing so tall and proud above Rhodes city with its spiked crown sparkling in the Mediterranean sun and its bronze limbs gleaming! A true wonder indeed to travellers arriving by ship and seeing it for the first time. To the people of Rhodes, their Colossus stood for much more than withstanding a siege. It represented independence in all its glory – a small island standing, brave and free, between two superpowers intent on destroying each other.

Colossus of Rhodes, imagined in a 16th-century engraving by Martin Heemskerck

Sadly the Colossus of Rhodes stood for only 56 years. A massive earthquake struck the island in 227BC, bringing the great statue crashing to earth. The islanders must have been devastated, but unlike the siege that had battered their city nobody could be blamed. It was an act of god, since the Rhodians believed the sea god Poseidon sent earthquakes. An oracle warned the people of Rhodes not to rebuild the Colossus, and these words turned out to be wise ones, since another large earthquake struck the island just three years later. The great statue lay in pieces on Rhodes for years – no doubt almost as much of a tourist attraction as it had been standing – before being sold to a rich Arab, who transported it off the island and carried it away on the backs of many camels into Asia, where it vanished from history.

THE FICTION
This, to an author, is powerful stuff. A fabulous statue representing freedom is built by man and then destroyed by a god. It has some mystery about it – its pose is unknown – so I could make things up, which is always fun. And it links with the myths of Rhodes, reaching back to the ancient enmity between the sun god Helios and the sea god Poseidon. If I’d been writing an adult book about the Colossus of Rhodes, I’d probably have picked up on those themes of independence and freedom. But as a children’s writer, I had the challenge of making a rather boring statue (OK, so it was big and shiny, but it didn’t suck blood, did it?) into an interesting story for my Seven Fabulous Wonders series.

My fellow History Girl Caroline Lawrence did this successfully in her book The Colossus of Rhodes, part of her Roman Mysteries series featuring four young friends living in the ancient world. I remember my original publishers being quite anxious about that title, because the two books were published in the same year (2005) and they thought readers might get confused. They needn’t have worried. As a fantasy author, I was quite happy to leave the mysteries and the Romans up to Caroline, who has also blogged about the colossus where you'll find some more fascinating myths and truths about the famous statue. My book was set earlier, at the time of the earthquake, and I went looking for the magic.

Digging through the Greek myths, I discovered that when Rhodes first rose from the waves, Zeus gave it to the sun god Helios because he’d forgotten to include the sun god in a recent share-out of cities and islands. Helios accepted the gift gracefully because he’d spotted a beautiful nymph on the beach. He lost no time wooing the lovely Rhode, and their seven sons grew up to rule Rhodes between them. Interesting. But some of my readers for this series were only 10, so steamy god-nymph sex between Helios and Rhode was out. Then I discovered that long before Rhodes sank beneath the waves, it was inhabited by a race of sea-creatures called “telchines”, who worshipped Poseidon and had fled when the floods swallowed their home.

This was a bit more promising. As mythical creatures, the telchines fascinated me. Were they mermaids with glittering tails? Did they live in the sea or on land? What made them different from humans? Did they have any magical powers? What did they think of the humans who invaded their home? Was it even possible some telchines remained on the island when the others fled, perhaps keeping out of sight so they would not be persecuted by the incomers? On an old map I discovered a village on the coast of Rhodes called the Invisible Village, and at that point my imagination took over.

THE FANTASY
I decided my heroine Aura would be half telchine and half human. She spends her time sponge-diving in the warm seas around Rhodes, something she is good at since she has webbed feet and hands and can “water-breathe” like a fish. On land, though, she is clumsy and teased by the other children, so for most of her life she has kept out of everyone’s way on the tiny island of Alimia, where she cares for her mother, a full-blooded telchine who has gone blind. When the earthquake topples the Colossus of Rhodes, Aura is the only one who can stop a war between the telchines and the humans, a war that will tear Rhodes apart once the gods get involved...

The day the earthquake turned Aura’s world upside-down began like any other.

Before breakfast, she took her sponge sack and her knife, left her mother sleeping in the hut, and went diving. She worked alone. Occasionally, she would glimpse other divers from the neighbouring islands through the clear turquoise water, but she never spoke to them and they kept well away from her. This suited Aura just fine. She loved swimming through the colourful sponge beds with shoals of fish tickling her bare legs and the water whispering in her ears. Down here, deep beneath the human world, she could forget she was a half-breed and an outcast – at least until her breath ran out and she had to surface again.

She ignored the first warning tremors that stirred sand from the bottom. Small quakes were not uncommon around the islands, and underwater was the safest place to be when Poseidon shook the earth. Also, she had just spotted an unusual blue sponge tantalizingly out of reach in a crevice.

Aura smiled, thinking of her mother’s delight when she brought it back. Then the worst happened. As she worked her knife under her prize, the seabed cracked open like a giant clam, sucked her upside-down in a powerful rush of bubbles, and bit closed on her ankle.

The pain was so sharp and unexpected she swallowed water. That had been a big one! Panicking, she twisted her foot until blood swirled, but it was held fast. The sea, that had been calm when she’d dived, was already cloudy with falling debris. Boulders covered in feathery anemones bounced down the underwater cliff around her.

She forced her knife into the crevice and levered with all her strength, trying to free her foot. More blood darkened the water as the rock scraped her ankle raw, but she remained trapped. She gripped the ledge above her head and pulled. Nothing worked. Her lungs were bursting. Being half telchine, the old race from the sea, Aura could hold her breath longer than a human diver. Even so, if she didn’t get out of this crevice, she was going to die…

If you want to know what happens next, "The Colossus Crisis" is now available as an e-book for Kindle on special offer until September 30th:
only 86p from amazon.co.uk
only 99c from amazon.com

If you would like to collect the whole series, the Seven Fabulous Wonders are being re-launched as e-books between now and February 2012. More details HERE

And if you enjoy telling other people what you think of the books you've read, the Fabulous Wonders reviewing competition has been extended so you can now post a review of either "The Cleopatra Curse" or "The Colossus Crisis" and win a signed paperback of your choice (including one of the final paper copies of my second novel "Spellfall"!) See my website for full details.