Hi everyone! In today's post, I would like to tell you about "The Setting Sun" ("Gasnące słońce"), a great novel by a lesser known 19th century Polish writer Teodor Jeske-Choiński. It is set in the times of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ca. 200 AD).
While most of the Roman elites have ceased to believe in old Roman gods and virtues, embracing the life of pleasure instead, the novel's protagonist, i.e. Publius Quintillius Verus, is a Roman patriot still faithful to the old order. He falls in love with Mucia Cornelia, who at first shares his worldview to a large extent, but later converts to Christianity, which, at the time, is a new and growing but despised religion. This conversion triggers a sequence of events which cause Servius Tulius, a prefect of the Roman legions of Germanic origin, to rebel and wage war against Rome. The novel explores the tenstions between the above-mentioned groups and worldviews: Romans, Christians and Germans, as well as the theme of love, which can develop and, in a way, triumph over all obstacles. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, religion or philosophy, as well as all lovers of literature in general.
(Written on a language course in St. Julian's, Malta)
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