The Dream of Scipio
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The Dream of Scipio is a novel by Iain Pears. It is set in Provence at three different critical moments of Western civilization -- the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Black Death in the fourteenth, the Second World War in the twentieth -- through which the fortunes of three men are followed:
- Manlius Hippomanes, a gallic aristocrat obsessed with the preservation of Roman civilization
- Olivier de Noyen, a poet and scholar, active in the Papal Court at Avignon
- Julien Barneuve, an intellectual who cooperates with the Vichy government
The story of each man is woven through the narrative, all linked by the Dream of Scipio, written by Manlius (not Cicero's classical text) that gave the book its title, and that is rediscovered by Olivier and Julien. Inspired by the teachings of Sophia, a student of Plato, Manlius composes the text to justify the decisions he takes when facing attack by the Visigoths and Burgundians, with little support from Rome. Religious issues, and how politics have influenced religious tolerance, shape all three stories: the roots of twentieth-century anti-semitism are traced and linked to other political decisions to use Jews as scapegoats.
But what centrally unites the three stories, and keeps the work absorbing and very important to today's concerns, is its extended deliberation on the question of how one resolves ethical conflicts, emotional commitments, and the quest for the true meaning of human life.
