Point of View

The novel is written in the third person with an omniscient narrator. From the beginning, the narrator does not label characters as good or evil. Instead, the narrator provides insight into the characters' inner thoughts and emotions through dialogue and descriptive passages. The reader learns the intent of these characters as they attempt to survive in the Roman world. This is important because it turns these historical figures into real human beings with feelings and desires. They live in a volatile world of intrigue and treachery. Whether the characters actions are right or wrong is left entirely up to the reader's discretion.

The narrator accomplishes this by telling the story as an outsider looking in. Characters speak of their dislike of one another and their reasons behind it, but the narrator never highlights who is the hero and who is the villain. Instead, all these characters...