Vibius Tiberius Costa

I'm disappointed to see that nobody gave me a nudge about this topic. My Top 20 tips would be: 1: Think of things that you enjoy to do, read and any hobbies however silly, from this you can create an area to divulge into. Such as Rome but not just that, if your into football (whatever kind), the camaraderie of sport is a lot like of a unit in a legion, yet always a progressive thing. Thats is a poor example but I hope you get my drift. 2: Choose an era, the more research the better, think of an era which is both riddled with what you want your book to be about and yet if you want to not just retell an historiacl event but expand and intricate a story. 3: Choose whether you rae going to do exactly that, is this a recount of events or a fact based story , or even a mix. A few half-truths and elabortaions of the past shoul dgo unnoticed in most novels. 4: Before evn thinking about characters or any of that sort see what happened in your chosen era, even minor parts can be weaved into your story making it credible, believable and still showing you are historical. There is no need to add parts to a plot if they could have really happened. 5: Read heavily on your area, I suggest a good site : UNRV. Just get yourslef in tune iwth what you rae about to start. 6: Plan like you've never planned before, pictures, drawings, a few character profiles, cities, routes, roots. Don't plan too much though keep yourself loose and free. 7: Construct the roughest of plots, will it be a quest, does your protagonist(s) want to go from A to B, or follow history or even does your characterperfom a task. There are several choices, and I don't want to be here forever. 8: Slowly develop characters, try not to make them carbon copies of people you know or yourself yet personal experience helps make a charcter seeem believable. Know your characters, what would they do if all faced by the same dilemma? 9: Use personal experiences, they provide such reality and depth to story. 10: Start writing before you drive yourself insane, don't get bogged down in planning, do it the same time you start. The worst that has to happne is you start again. 11: Always enjoy writing, if you are not enjoying it, your novel will seem a chore. 12: Frequently go over your work to edit, it helps you follow your own thought process. 13: If nothing i going right leaev your noel alone, let your characters come back and speak to you again. 14: At key points go back and edit. 15: Read your work for leisure too. Try and occasionally read it without caring how it flows or spells. 16: Don't rush your novel, take your time. The longer you are left conjure ideas the batter your novel will become. 17: Visit UNRV and other research places as and when you encounter problems. I'm sure people here can remember when i would list a load of questions. 18: You don't have to write your novel in order, if you are desperate to write the epilogue do that, there are no rules or boundaries when it comes to your own writing. 19: Style, semantics, convention of the novel and selection of detail. Incorporating literary techniques must be intertwined into your novel, don't forget that a novel need these to be complete 20: Fianlly have funa snd enjoy it. I hope thats a help feel free to contact me. vtc check out my blog for a tiny extract from my own novel

What about the routes taken by different parties? does anyone have anything like that. For all of the punic wars I 'd love to have a path by path breakdown of each side. vtc ps this might be worthy of a topic

A couple of armour related - republican questions. Only patricians were allowed to join the army so was their a determinate way of setting yourself out from the rest by buying pparticuarly elaborate armour and waht? Greaves, would onlya rich patrician where them? Does your 'rank' in society give you a better cahnce of being an officer? Did the republic allow plebeian archers/javelinmen into their levied armies, could from there a plebeian make it into the army. vtc

I like Marius and other republican leaders like Scipio and Mummius. But greatest Roman Figure has to be Caesar or Augustus they are the personifiactin of Rome and are the greatest FIGURES if not my favourite, best warrior, tactician etc. vtc

In my opinion, the most important invention has to be central heating, even if the Romans didn't wholly invent it their adaptations are the key. I also would say the riot shield is based on that of the roman scuta, i suppose the rounded shield has to be fairly important vtc

Ok here is one section picked at random by my calculator from my book. I would love feedback, usually i keep everything to do with my writing very close to me but whatever. A bit of background, my lead has escaped his room on the day of a fictitious (I Think) festival (In March - if anyone knows the real name of a festival sometime in march that has something to do with the god Mars I would be very grateful.) Shrines and temples were filled with boisterous men cheering and jeering as animals were sacrificed. Vibius glimpsed the tavern, it was alive with energy. The noise drew Vibius in with a smile igniting his face. The tavern was bursting with life. Men from all backgrounds were merrily chanting or drinking. A Roman soldier and a peasant sat side by side gulping from two large urns, both were sloshing the red liquid about them. Tables and chairs spilt out onto the road - all full with men. A thick tree bough was standing in an iron bracket above the doorway. Crowned with flames, it illuminated most of the outside along with the table candles. It wept shards of flame into the air as it flickered orange light onto the cheerful faces below. Vibius walked inside, out of the chilling night air and into the warmth. An armoured soldier walked by with a grey faced man muttering to himself incoherently. The soldier placed him by the door and he fell asleep instantly, still muttering with a toothless smile on his lips. The soldier let out a deep laugh and turned back inside. A seat was free at the counter and Vibius sat himself down admiring the armour. It was well made and looked good but he doubted it would hold up to a really powerful lunge. Vibius looked away as he thought of what his father would say about the armour and even worse, what he was doing. "Vibius yer turned up, I thought yer weren't goin' to come? 'Ave a free drink lad." Said the friendly tavern keeper handing Vibius a drink with a gnarled hand. It is an alright section, it also shows how little i really know about Rome nad how unspecific I am. Any tips, pointers, ideas, criticisms, Roman information, facts, criticisms or (unlikely) praise I will happily reply and aknowledge. If anything I would prefer you to pick holes in it and tear it apart witha cynical eye. Negative feedback to me is worth gold. I'll explain some other time. I hope you enjoyed, or not. vtc

Although I really shouldn't I believe it is time for me to put the book out of my life, not forever but until I want to come back to it. Any advice on if I should stop at 80 thousand words and see what happens. Or go to 120 k go off with that or even go to 240. The book was always going to be split in 3 (Rome, Travel and Mediolanium)why not make it 3 books. Unbelievably I have a few notes on another book - nothing to do with Rome. I am not even sure if i write particuarly well. So if enough people ask my next blog will be a tiny extract only if enough people ask. Or I would personaly PM it to an insistent or actively writing member. I'm pretty sure that if i had an agent this owul be forbidden but waht the hell vtc

It has been almost 10 months since I've been on UNRV and i have missed the knowledge and people. I have been struggling and grappling with my final year at school. I have only written 5000 words at best in 8 months breaking about 110000 words (only another 100000 - 150000 more). I feel that the book is slipping away and will never be finished. It is hard to combine history with story, i have had to completely bend huge aspects of history but not break them. On an aside note should i just write the bits that i enjoy? or do the end first and work backwards? Also I have two theories for books that i want to start but whats the point if i cant finish one? I may go on to this site more frequently now. if anyone could speciffically aid me in my research i would be grateful. i have more to say but like my book nothing is happening. Also i do believe its not writer's block either. Whatever, I hope people remember me. vtc

Is it true that a type of urn or something was placed half-buried in th eground and wine was poured in as akind of offering? If not i don't know where i got that from. Were there tombstones? What did they say? Was the body enclosed in a coffin? Were there speeches at the funeral? Who could attend? Who was prayed to? ty in advance vtc

I'm sure there is a section or clipings of how a funeral happens but i kind of need it all in one nice chunk. I haev listed the scenario and some info (i don't know if its of any worth but it might help in anyones explanation). Scenario: 2nd century bc (about 150 ish) Senator has died He is wealthy Has a wife and one parent (no siblings) He is a fictitious character but i have modelled him on 'real' romans He is obese by our terminology a step by step guide would be great bt anything at all would be much appreciated. vtc

So how far can a roman walk or march. I've heard near 30 miles in a legion in one day. How far would a legion that isn't in a rush, march in one day? How far would a legion march if they were needed immediatly? How much does terrain effect marching (obviously a lot), are ttheir aspects of agincourt somewhere in roman history? Specific example: How many days would it take to get from Rome to the Apennines (en route to Ariminum)? The how many days to go right through them? If anyone answers thank you vtc

i hate to doubt you MPC because you usually are impeccably accurate but the Google map route doesn't take the via flamina, the image you show takes the via salaria I think? Was the via salaria built before the 2nd century bc and was it the best route to go from Rome to Ariminum via Ancona? vtc

Thanks guys great links vtc

I apologise for the questions that have been asked before ... etc Every question applies to mid 2nd century bc ... etc So here goes What is the plural of Scutum? How would a roman get from Rome to Ariminum via Ancona? How was 'luggage' carried - on a mule? What was in this 'luggage'? Were their outpost or something like that situated along a road? Was their a police force, legions were levied so who kept the peace? How far could someone walk? Did the Romans have a north, south, east and west? Everything 2nd century bc Thanks in advance vtc

Thanks guys vtc

Well I haven't gone on Unrv for ages but I'm back for a tiny bit, I wanted to see my name on the birthday list All is reasonably fine. Book should go on a growth spurt now i am off school. I should have more time to bash out a few chapters here and there. I passed every subject oh yeah few A's few B's and even a C, top in school 4 accounting, english and Information systems. Well enough bragging. Birthday celebrations to do cheers Unrv for being a gr8 source of knowledge and friendliness this year. vtc

Because I am at school the book is consequently really difficult. I also have a really busy life so only have an hour a week to actually do Roman stuff and a good 10-40 mins of that is spent on here learning. I've been at my book now for nearly a year and the past few months i've only wrote 10 or so pages. It's semi-writers block i suppose. vtc

Didn't Spain during the republic have a permanent army? vtc

Happy Birthday and thanks for the great site. vtc

I have returned, although I didn't leave for long. I think it's about time to reveal my age, I am sure you won't be surprised. I am therefore stil at school, am working towards uni and possibly moving into finance (however I am not boring as i am sure you have all atained). However for purposes i wish didn't exist i will not have my age up for long before i turn it back to 0, as i don't really want my age on the internet for long. I was fed up of 'lying' to you lot. I think you will now understand why my book takes so long, for i am still at high school and comes second after school. Please don't treat me to differently but bear in mind that i have less knowledge on Rome than you probably originally thought. Cheers vtc

Oooh maybe Rome but I owuld have lived in squalor probaly. Maybe Illyria vtc

Were some legions considered elite, like the tenth? werern't they boasted in the media by Caesar? And, would a legion get mentioned for bravery? That way all of the men were mentioned. Would bravery on the field connote a promotion as a reward? bit off topic, sorry vtc

Well I look forward to the reports vtc

I assume because there were less people less wood would (no pun intended) be needed. I still expect that Cyrenaica would have suffered its greatest stage of deforestation wouldn't have caused such a desolate landscape. The Sahara was smaller but was never a forested area. vtc

Nice to know your alive. coast guard eh? I have never heard of the beautiful beaches of Alaska vtc