Writer Santiago Posteguillo began his “biggest literary challenge” with the first book of his project – after all, six will be written in twelve years – about Julius Caesar, “Roma soy yo” (Ediciones B), about the life and work of the most famous senator of classical Rome. “Caesar – Zelensky of that time and his enemy Sulla – the Roman dictator – is like Putin. The last thing Putin thought about today was to meet Zelensky opposing him, he thought he would run away, but no. The same thing happened with the Force,” said the best-selling author in an interview with Europa Press.
Postegigillo devoted his literary career to addressing Rome through the historical novel, but with Julius Caesar as a shadow character. Now he has planned a job to tell in the next ten years about life “the man who changed history” from Rome. “If I want to tell it in my own style, a story about someone who all of Rome revolved around, I couldn’t just make a trilogy: tell about his rise, the Gallic wars, Cleopatra…,” says the Valencian writer. . In this way, six deliveries are currently planned this project, but Postegillo no longer rules out.
In “Roma soy yo” we talk about the most unknown Julius Caesar, when at the beginning of his journey he decided to confront the corrupt political class as a prosecutor, embodied in Senator Dolabel. A Roman leader accepts an order from the Macedonians to put an end to political privileges in his area, even if it means putting him in the line of fire of the “Optimates”. In a military-civilizational Rome, more brutal than ever, Julius Caesar will his first public appearance at a decisive trial and, in part, exposes the echo of the “dictator-tyrant”, which was forged at different times.
I question people’s idea of a dictator, especially because of the meaning the word has today. We can’t know if he was going to stay in power when he had it, because they wouldn’t let him: they killed him. Also, it’s much harder than saying he’s a genocide because he killed a lot of people in Gaul,” he defended. In fact, Postegigillo acknowledged the “admiration” he has for the protagonist of his project, especially his precautionary character. “I don’t want to soften his figure, but I can’t spend twelve years of my life with a character I don’t admire. Many of the things he did were done for the first time in history,” he admitted.
For example, in Roma soy yo, the future Caesar of Rome is shown with his first wife, Cornelia, with whom he was in love and with whom he gave a eulogy after his death, which aroused suspicion because it was never delivered. for women in front of a dead young man. “I’m not saying she was a feminist because it wasn’t possible at the time, but she demonstrated how little convention mattered to him. It didn’t matter if there wasn’t an equality ministry, if he thought his wife deserved a speech, he did it,” he defended. This novel also captures the atmosphere of rottenness in the actions of the Roman time, when the expansion of his empire provoked tensions with new citizens who had almost no class privileges and high taxes.
Thriller in the courtroom
“Roma soy yo” ends up becoming a kind of “judicial thriller” that shares a lot of similarities with current judicial systems. “It is quite clear that our law is the evolution of the Romanwith the recusal of judges: if justice does not work, the whole society suffers,” explained Posteguillo, who admits that drinking is associated with literary influences such as John Grisham or Agatha Christie.
Again with similarities to today’s society, the author of “I, Julia” again resorts to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to find “who is more like” Julius Caesar today: Ukrainian leader Zelensky. “I miss people in politics with the character, charisma and audacity of Cesar. And now I see that the only European leader who was able to put his life on the line for his beliefs was Zelensky with this caesarean slogan: “I do not give up and fight to the death.” Both Cesar and Zelensky give strength to their speech by their example,” he concluded.