The Conquered by Naomi Mitchison

First published: 1923

Type of work: Historical fiction

Themes: War, friendship, and race and ethnicity

Time of work: 58-46 b.c.e.

Recommended Ages: 15-18

Locale: Gaul (modern France), Britain, and Rome

Principal Characters:

• Meromic, son of the ruler of the Veneti, a Celtic tribe
• Fiommar, his sister, who is betrothed to a Briton
• Titus Veturius Barrus, a young Roman aristocrat, who is serving under Julius Caesar
• Vercingetorix, the chief of the Arvernians
• Ardorix, the chief of the Arvernian town of Curdun, Vercingetorix’s enemy
• Caltane, Ardorix’s cousin, who is a follower of Vercingetorix
• Lerrys, a Colchian slave and Meromic’s friend

The Story

The Conquered tells the story of one people dominated by another. The Veneti, a Celtic tribe, are represented primarily by Meromic, who is a playful youth more interested in his first real battle than he is in his sister’s approaching marriage. In contrast, Titus, the main Roman character, seems weak and uncertain, a rich man’s grandson who mediates quarrels rather than fights. When the two first meet, in the winter of 57 b.c.e., Titus has been taken hostage and brought to Meromic’s father; Meromic is friendly and unconcerned.

After that, however, Meromic experiences a series of defeats. His people confidently face the Romans in a sea battle but lose; Meromic’s father is executed; his beloved sister Fiommar commits suicide rather than be taken into slavery; and wounded, he is sold as a slave to Titus’ grandfather in Rome. There, Titus saves him and his friend Lerrys from death at the hands of a cruel overseer; in gratitude, Meromic swears an oath of loyalty to the young Roman. From then on, his fiercely loyal nature is divided between the love for his master and the older, deeper love for freedom and his people. The division is made more difficult because Titus is a worthy master who trusts his slave. When Roman legions invade Britain in 54 b.c.e., Titus allows Meromic to go off on his own; Meromic then takes his revenge on the Briton who was to marry Fiommar, but instead refused to send help during the sea battle. In that encounter and others, Meromic is reminded that his fellow Celts despise him for obeying a Roman, but he continues to serve Titus even after being given his freedom.

What finally swings the balance is the defeat of Vercingetorix, the Arvernian leader who has managed to unite several of the Gaulish clans against the Romans. Ardorix, however, another powerful Arvernian, helps the Romans, and Vercingetorix is forced to surrender. Meromic can make little difference in the face of such a defeat, and he is punished for his part in the fighting with the loss of his right hand. The news of Caesar’s triumph and the execution of Vercingetorix maddens Meromic. He is ready to kill Titus and his wife and children while they sleep, but a mysterious old storyteller appears; the room is empty, and a wolf with a lame right forefoot is heading north. For the last time, Meromic rejects human love and chooses freedom.

Context

The Conquered is Naomi Mitchison’s first novel, the first in a long career that has produced illustrated juvenile books, science fiction, short stories, plays, history, memoirs, and philosophy as well as other historical fiction. Her historical fiction does not promote an escape from present concerns; rather, the events of the past provide a new perspective on current problems. Thus, the divisive pride of Meromic and the Gauls mirrors the infighting of Irish republicans in the 1900’s, and the strong influence of Christian women in the fight against Nero’s tyranny in Blood of the Martyrs (1939) provides more of an inspiration to the twentieth century than an exact historical rendering of the first.

Historical accuracy, however, is a feature of Mitchison’s novels, especially in comparison with earlier fictional treatments of the Roman Empire. Her descriptions of clothing, jewelry, weapons, and customs are based on the written records and archaeological evidence available to her, although advances in archaeology since 1945 have changed some of the assumptions about life in Roman Gaul and Britain. At the same time, however, her characters speak in a colloquial English that is sometimes distracting but always engaging.

In addition to the blend of historical detail and modern dialogue, Mitchison’s main contribution to historical fiction about the Roman Empire in The Conquered is the balanced perspective she brings to the conflict between the Romans and the races they subdued. The violence of the first century b.c.e. is not overlooked, but neither the savagery of the Gauls nor the cruelty of the Romans is emphasized. This evenness contrasts with the approach of novels such as Paul L. Anderson’s Swords in the North (1935), which cites some of the same sources but sides with Roman civilization; J. E. Hood’s Guardians of the Forest (1961), an adventure story full of heroic Britons and faceless, cruel Romans; and Madeleine Polland’s To Tell My People (1968), which portrays Britons as savages whose only hope lies in the civilizing influence of Rome. Although The Conquered may have little appeal to young people today, Naomi Mitchison’s more balanced approach anticipates the achievement of Rosemary Sutcliff in Song for a Dark Queen (1978). Here, too, neither the conquerors nor the conquered have all the answers, and there can be no neat, happy ending.