From Publishers Weekly
Robinson begins her episodic debut novel with the birth of the dwarf, Dominic, in Gaul in A.D. 375. As Dominic travels through the provinces to Rome, Constantinople and the borders of the Roman empire, the daily lives of Gauls, Greeks, Goths, pagans, Christians, peasants and aristocrats are portrayed in detail. Orphaned as a child, Dominic is sold to the owner of an itinerant Greek circus troupe, becomes an accomplished acrobat and learns to enjoy the vagabond life. After escaping the wrath of a Roman senator, he is betrayed and sold to an Arab trader who in turn sells him to an enlightened master in Constantinople. The death of this master leads into a drawn-out account of Dominic's subsequent torture and degradation at the hands of the bestial commander of a Roman garrison on the Rhine. Pagan, Greek, Roman and Viking myths color this lively but overlong chronicle.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
A picaresque first novel about a sharp-witted dwarf growing up in ancient Rome, Dominic is a study of contrasts: personal, emotional, geographical, religious, and philosophical. Dominic, a Christian child, is orphaned in Gaul, sold into slavery, and trained as an acrobat in a circus troupe of pagan vagabonds. The slave's changing fortunes include higher education and travels throughout the ancient world. His incredible journeys bring cruelty and unmitigated misery to this engaging dwarf, who also finally experiences the joys of friendship and caring. Thoroughly good reading, Dominic makes an unfamiliar era live. This is well recommended.
- Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.