Hylas is a Greek slave. His master is the affluent Caius Pomponius. One day Hylas wakes to discover that his master was murdered in bed while asleep in a room in his villa. Suspicion instantly falls on the household slaves; who else in the villa could have committed the vile crime? In Rome when one slave was suspected of murder every single slave in the house was executed, whether man, woman or child. Soldiers soon arrive, arrest the slaves, and herd them to prison. Hylas, however, manages to escape arrest and flees the house. It is only a matter of time before he will be missed and the soldiers start searching for him. Hylas is frantic, and for good reasons. His own mother is one of the slaves facing torture and death in a Roman prison. Trusting his life into the hands of people he hardly knows, Hylas must somehow prove that the murderer was not one of the slaves while evading capture himself.
This exciting mystery set just after the time of Christ is so thrilling that I could not put it down. The author connected me emotionally with the characters and compelled me to pause a moment to imagine how it might have felt like to be a slave in Rome. I found myself growing exceedingly angry at the distorted form of justice displayed by the Roman Empire in such murder cases.
At the same time, I was moved by the mercy showed to Hylas by people who are virtual strangers. When an author can invoke so many different emotions while juggling a complicated cast of characters I cannot help but be greatly inspired.
Inspirations 4 Writing
How does it feel like to be a slave? How does it feel like to be an escapee with your life on the line? Ponder these questions and try to imagine yourself in such circumstances. Then write feelingly about a character who is either a slave, an escapee running from some danger, or both.
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