Rome For Sale by Jack Lindsay (1934)

This novel stands in sharp contrast to its predecessor, which was a sprightly inventive comedy. Here Lindsay shows his mettle in historical terms, with a complex and well-tensioned understanding of the conspiracy of Catalina to overthrow the corrupt Senate in ancient Rome, and establish a dictatorship in the name of the masses. With a vast array of characters, and his very fine understanding of the workings of their minds, and the tangents of thought brought about by the historical context, one would imagine that this second novel would be a surefire amplification of his credentials. But something perhaps in his passion for the material stymies this book, or perhaps the fault lies elsewhere. The effect is a becalming. The entire first half feels like a hopping from tile to tile and back again in a vast mosaic - the narrative drive is disturbingly missing. So while there is grandness of intent, vastness of scale, depth of vision into humanity, this enormous vehicle stalls nevertheless. Only when we reach the election, intended by Catalina as the catalyst for his actions, does the fire of onward energy match the huge intent. For a good portion of the last half he keeps this up, and then a tailoff begins. The final scenes of Catalina's death in battle are, though, stirring and beautiful.