Today, I have the honor of doing an interview with Victoria Alvear! She has written two short stories in the anthologies called A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii and A Song of War. Under the name, Vicky Alvear Shecter, she has penned Cleopatra's Moon, Curses of Smoke and Fire, Secrets of the Ancient Gods series, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra Rules, and Warrior Queens. In this interview, Mrs. Alvear talks about her latest adult novel, The Cleansing, which is a story about a Vestal Virgin who is unjustly accused of being sexually unchaste. During the interview, Mrs. Alvear discusses her writing process and her research. Thank you, Mrs. Alvear!
What inspired you to write your book, The Cleansing?
I was struck one day, years ago, when I heard an evangelical preacher claim that a hurricane hit Florida (and then years later, New Jersey) because of “lesbians” and loose women. At first, I laughed. Did they really believe this? Or was it just theater?
And then it struck me—they really believed this! They really believed that God smites whole cities or nations if the wrong people were having sex. Years before, I had read a lot about the Hannibal wars and how they accused Vestal Virgins of being unchaste after the Battle of Cannae. Then I made the connection. The ancient Romans absolutely believed that if Vestal Virgins stayed chaste, they were “safe” from the wrath of the gods.
So, if something terrible happened, it “had” to mean one of their Vestal Virgins had broken her vows. And she had to be put to death to “cleanse” the land of her impurity. The fact that we are still blaming certain people for having sex or being sexual as a “reason” for why God sends natural disasters 2,000 years later blew my mind. And I wanted to understand it.
You have written 3 novels and a short story set in Ancient Rome. What is it about Ancient Rome that fascinates you?
I’ve always been fascinated by ancient Greece and Rome. I remember as a kid, finding a book in the library that featured beautiful photos of the statues of the era and I literally lost my breath. I was floored. Who created such amazing art? Why did it move me so much? From that time on, I was obsessed!
What research did you do on the Vestal Virgins? Was there anything that you found surprising?
I read a lot of scholarly works on Vestal Virgins and religious practices because, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of primary sources about women in general. One book, The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic by Robert O’Connell helped me understand the depth of terror that gripped Rome.
What surprised me the most was the cruel way that Rome treated the survivors of Cannae. I couldn’t believe Rome completely abandoned them—they weren’t allowed to return to Rome and were called cowards for surviving. That’s why they were called “ghosts.” Having one of my characters experience this really brought home how betrayed young men must have felt. We expect such a patriarchal culture to hurt women, but how it treated its men who survived was shocking.
What primary sources did you use for The Cleansing?
The Greek writer Polybius was born soon after the Second Punic War, so he got his account of what happened directly from the people and soldiers who survived it. Titus Livy also wrote about the era.
Were there any challenges in writing the novel?
Yes! Getting it published. This was a difficult novel to sell because it’s a dark subject. And most people in the U.S. don’t know much about Rome in general (to my great sorrow). I’ve written and rewritten this book so many times, I’ve lost count!
Mia seems like a modern-day heroine. How did you make an ancient historical figure relevant to our times?
I think what makes historical fiction so fascinating is that people don’t really change much over time. We all still want the same things, we all generally have the same questions about our place in the world, religious ideas and their meaning, etc.
People just assume that everyone in the ancient world was religious, but scholar Tim Whitmarsh proved otherwise in his book: Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World. I based Attius’ character on the clear proof that not everyone believed in the gods in ancient times. But I think when people are in pain, they do tend to reach for religion more. I wanted to show how that tension played out between Mia and Attius.
What do you hope readers will take away from Mia’s story?
To be reminded that we can grow as she did—but hopefully without needing such life and death stakes!
What drew you to historical fiction?
I’ve always loved historical fiction, even as a kid. I think it’s the sense of stepping into a sort of “portal” where you can experience this whole other world. It’s the closest we will get to a time machine.
What are the rewards for writing historical fiction as well as the challenges?
The rewards for me are about helping to understand the human condition, to have empathy for people—especially women—as they did their best in systems that often hurt them. The challenges are that we can’t literally go back in time to understand all the nuances, but the effort itself is worth the attempt.
What project are you working on next?
I’m playing with a couple of ideas set in ancient Egypt. Too early to say yet!
About Victoria Alvear:
Victoria Alvear writes award-winning historical fiction set in the ancient world. She writes for children under the name Vicky Alvear Shecter. Her books include A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii, A Song of War: A Novel of Troy, Cleopatra’s Moon, and others.
She has spent twenty years as a docent at the Carlos Museum of Antiquities at Emory University in Atlanta. You can find her sharing her fascination with the ancient world on Tiktok (@ask.a.docent) or Instagram (@Vicky_Alvear_Shecter). For more information, visit her website at www.vickyalvearshecter.com.
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