15 h 15 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a city of crumbling monuments and rival houses, desire can be as dangerous as ambition.
Nathan Gallizier’s The Sorceress of Rome takes you into medieval Rome, where great ruins stand among small houses and the Church holds great power. This historical romance brings together schemers and lovers in a city full of secrets, with danger close to passion.
Power, betrayal and fatal desire shape the tale’s dark promise. Ambition draws people toward rank, while love and longing can make them reckless. Gallizier’s rich, dramatic style gives these tensions room to grow, with strong feelings, bold turns of plot and choices that carry a cost.
What you’ll discover
- Rome in the shadows Enter a medieval city where old glory lies half buried among ruins and houses.
- The pull of power Explore a world of rival noble houses, powerful church authority and restless ambition.
- Desire with a cost Follow the tension between longing and power, where strong feelings can invite reckless choices.
- Fear and fascination Consider the sorceress figure, poised between the fear of danger and the attraction of mystery.
- Drama without restraint Enjoy rich description, openly expressed emotion and the bold plotting of old-fashioned historical romance.
Who will love it
Readers who love medieval Rome, shadowy conspiracies and doomed love, and who enjoy rich scenery, bold villains and a tale of power set under the shadow of the year 1000.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A plot opens in the porphyry cabinet
- Eckhardt saves a woman and finds Rome again
- A wager in the court of Theodora
- The senator's plan and a sermon in the Ghetto
- The false monk and the unfinished vow
- A new pope, a king in love and a lethal cup
- The harper's grief and Eckhardt's disguise
- What the book is about
- How the story is told
- What to watch for as the tale closes in
Who’s who
- Eckhardt of MeissenThe German commander and Margrave, a hard soldier crushed by the sudden death of his wife Ginevra, who wants the truth about her grave.
- BeniloThe Grand Chamberlain, a poet and plotter who loves the woman Theodora and uses everyone around him to win her.
- TheodoraThe Queen of Love, a haunting beauty who rules a palace of pleasure and is tied to a secret past she wants to escape.
- Otto IIIThe young German king and emperor, half Greek, who dreams of making Rome the capital of the world again.
- StephaniaThe proud wife of the Roman Senator, sent to win the king's trust, who wants glory for Rome and finds her heart divided.
- Johannes CrescentiusThe Senator of Rome, a stern patriot who plots to throw off German rule and win back his city.
- HeziloA wandering harper with a hidden grief and a quiet plan, who guides Eckhardt through the dangers of Rome.
- Nilus of GaetaA gaunt hermit who preaches that the End of Time is near and advises the troubled people who seek him.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 15 h 15 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Die Zauberin von Rom
by Nathan Gallizier · 1907
In Rome in 999, a courtier's drunken wager sets a famous beauty against a grieving German general.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Sorceress of Rome is a historical novel by Nathan Gallizier, set in the last months of the year 999. The Roman world waits for the End of Time, and in the city the young German emperor Otto III tries to make Rome the capital of the earth again.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A plot opens in the porphyry cabinet
The story opens on a sultry October day in 999. In the palace on the Aventine, Benilo, the Grand Chamberlain, waits beside a sand clock. A hooded friar slips in through a hidden panel in the wall. The two speak in barbed, half-hidden phrases about cardinals who die suddenly, poisoned honey and a pope who may soon follow them. The friar lists the names of men marked for removal, and the Chamberlain nods.
Benilo is a poet, a lover of the old gods and a man of pleasure on the surface. Underneath he is a schemer who will use anyone. Before the friar leaves, he lowers his cowl, and Benilo goes pale at the face he sees. We learn only that this is a man who should not be in Rome.
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What is The Sorceress of Rome about?
It is a historical novel set in Rome in 999, as people await the End of Time. A grieving German general, a scheming chamberlain, a beautiful queen and a young emperor are drawn into plots of love, poison and rebellion.
Is The Sorceress of Rome based on a true story?
Partly. Otto III, Crescentius, Gerbert of Aurillac and Gregory V were real, and the legend of Otto's love for Stephania appears in old chronicles. The author adds invented characters and many scenes, so it is best read as a romance set among real events.
Who is Theodora in the book?
Theodora is the Queen of the Groves, a beautiful woman who rules a palace of pleasure on the Aventine. She comes from the line of the notorious Marozia, and her true past is one of the book's central mysteries.
The author
Nathan Gallizier
1866–1927 · American historical novelist
Nathan Gallizier was an American novelist who lived from 1866 to 1927. He wrote historical fiction in the early twentieth century. His novels include The Hill of Venus, Under the Witches’ Moon, and The Sorceress of Rome. The Sorceress of Rome was published in 1907.
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