Mark of the Thief

The Mark of the Thief is set in third-century Rome during the reign of Emperor Tacitus. It is believed that he was born sometime around 200 and ruled from late 275-276, during a period of internal and external instability. Tacitus’s rule ended with his death, but the cause is uncertain. It is believed that Tacitus died either from disease or at the hands of his own soldiers, a detail the novel incorporates at the end when Radulf informs Nic that the emperor is likely already dead, implying that he died at the hands of soldiers loyal to Radulf. The historian Tacitus was succeeded by a half-brother, Florian, whose rule lasted three months before his soldiers assassinated him.

Tacitus and Florian’s brief rules exemplify the volatility of the third-century Roman Empire, which was beset by economic problems, invasions, political turmoil, and civil wars. This state, however, is not entirely unique in Roman history, as it has a long series of bloody wars, both civil and external. The Mark of the Thief remarks on this when Felix recounts the myth of Remus and Romulus in Chapter 12: One of Rome’s foundation myths characterizes it as originating in a war between brothers.

A second Roman foundation myth of importance to The Mark of the Thief is one the Roman poet Virgil seized in the transitional period between republic and empire in the late-first century BC, another period of political upheaval. According to this myth, the Roman people descend from Aeneas, a son of Venus and the Trojan prince Anchises. Having survived the fall of Troy, Aeneas journeys across the Mediterranean in search of a new home for his people and builds an empire. Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar claimed to be a descendant of Aeneas and thus of Venus. Claims to be descended from gods or heroes and deification after death became a fashion for emperors, who could then cloak their power as divine authority.