Birds in the Ancient World by Jeremy Mynott: review in Literary Review

I've reviewed Jeremy Mynott's new book, Birds in the Ancient World, for Literary Review.

THE ARROW OF APOLLO reaches 70 %

THE ARROW OF APOLLO, which I'm crowdfunding on Unbound, has reached 72 % of its funding target. Find out more here.

Classics and Myth workshop for Classics for All

I'm delighted to announce I will be running a workshop for Classics for All on myth and creative writing. It's available for teachers: have a look here.

Review of John Julius Norwich and Adam Thorpe: Spectator

I've reviewed John Julius Norwich's new book, A History of France, and Adam Thorpe's Notes from the Cévennes, for The Spectator. Read it here.

The Branford Boase Shortlist

I've written a guest blog about the Branford Boase shortlist for Minerva Reads.

THE ARROW OF APOLLO CHARACTERS: IULUS

 CHARACTERS
The Arrow of Apollo by Philip Womack

IULUS

Iulus is also known as Ascanius; he is the first son of Aeneas, by his Trojan wife, Creusa. In myth, he is led out of Troy by his father. All sorts of things happen to Iulus: in Virgil's Aeneid, he is largely the cause of the war between the Latins and the Trojans, when he shoots a pet stag belonging to one of the Latins.

He's also meant to be the original founder of the line of the Julians, which of course continues on into Julius Caesar and his great-nephew Augustus, hence endowing the Julio-Claudians with divine heritage (as Venus is Aeneas' mother) and with a direct link to their mythical past. It is rather like our own Queen Elizabeth II, who is, naturally, descended from the god Woden.

In The Arrow of Apollo, Iulus is Silvius's elder brother: rather arrogant, he teases his little brother, and has been given his own town of Alba Longa to rule.

HELP FUND THE ARROW OF APOLLO ON UNBOUND

An Update on THE ARROW OF APOLLO by Philip Womack

Here's an update on the funding progress of THE ARROW OF APOLLO by Philip Womack.