Capsarius: Historischer Roman

by Jens Gerlach

Der sympathische Mittvierziger Hans Lanzspiel, ein Biologe mit großem Herz und noch größerer Klappe, erwacht am Ufer der Lahn und ist zunächst erstaunt über das römische Patrouillenschiff, das sich dem Ufer nähert. Doch die vermeintlichen Hobby-Römer entpuppen sich als echte Römer! So schwer er es zunächst glauben kann, so völlig unmöglich es ist - er ist in die Vergangenheit, genauer ins Jahr 83 n. Chr. gereist. Nach anfänglichen Schwierigkeiten freundet er sich mit dem aus Syrien stammenden römischen Offizier Quintus Tilius an. Zusammen meistern sie den antiken Alltag und erleben mit ihrem Freund Berowulf, einem bei der römischen Armee dienenden germanischen Kundschafter, dramatische Abenteuer und das Leben in der römisch-germanischen Grenzregion. Die Geschichte spielt vor dem historisch korrekten Hintergrund und beschreibt realistisch und faktenreich das Leben in der damaligen Zeit.

322 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2021

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. Time travel is a bit out of my comfort zone, but this one was interesting: Hans Lanzspiel, a present-day German, is taken back to the Rome of Domitian. Setting is Germania--sounds reasonable given the hero's nationality :). He is resting by the river Lahn, and a Roman river patrol boat picks him up as a hostile. At first any Romans he sees he feels are re-enactors but, no, after any of them speak only Latin, he knows he has time-travelled back in time. Although at first, he's a prisoner, but after learning Latin and compiling a German-Latin dictionary, he does prove his worth to the army by giving a tracheotomy to a wounded soldier. For that reason, he's made a capsarius (a medic). He tells no one he's from the future but everyone thinks of him as some kind of seer. He helps operate on a legate successfully and devises a sophisticated map that corrects Roman errors and adds more information. On the order of his legate, he spies, along with his centurion friend Quintus, and their German scout, Berowulf on the Chattian tribe, for which he receives the Roman military decoration of armillae. At all stages of his journey, he compares the Germany of today with the Germania of 2000 years ago. He is at Domitian's battle with the Chattian tribe and describes the action. After celebrating the Roman victory with his friends, he wakes up back in Germany. But why back in his own house does he still have a Roman haircut. is in excellent physical shape, and his forearms are whiter where his armillae would have been?