Creating the World of The Martian Principate

My oh my it has been a while since I posted any kind of personal blog. Now that autumn is in full swing and new releases are coming out, I figured that now would be a good time to talk about the new series, what it’s about, and where it’s going to go from here.

It’s no secret to friends or anyone who follows me on social media that I am a massive history buff. Starting in early 2021, I began reading more and more about Ancient Rome, and by the end of the year I had become fully enamored with what many consider to be the world’s greatest empire. I felt particularly gravitated to the late republic and early imperial period, but it wasn’t until I got to the mid-late empire and began learning about such legendary figures as Gallienus, Aurelian, Stilicho, Aetius, and Majorian. Here were people who lived during the worst of times that never failed to do what had to be done.

The fall of Rome often gets oversimplified and attributed overmuch to one thing or another. Be it barbarian invasions, the burgeoning power of the Christians, the internal corruption and weakness of the late Empire. In truth, there was no single thing that led to the downfall of Rome, and from its collapse we can learn a thing or two about how societies will be born, grow, evolve, and eventually die in our time and beyond.

There is, however, a problem. Ancient history is not exactly a popular topic of conversation. The further back you go, the less interested people become. I can’t really fault anyone for this. There is a tendency to view societies that are thousands of years old as primitive and barbaric. Especially in Europe, where there is a tendency to think that whatever came before the middle ages must’ve been even worse than what was.

So, I decided to take the themes, events, people, and faiths of Rome and give them a new home. A home where I thought they might propagate and thrive. A home on Mars.

One of the things I dislike about modern sci-fi is the proclivity of authors to establish Earth as a united planet. A world with one government and one people working toward a greater purpose. To me, there is no greater fantasy than this, and I believe that our divisions here will be exploited for centuries into the future, especially as extraterrestrial societies begin to rise throughout the system. Just like Rome was able to exploit and dominate its Germanic neighbors for centuries by facilitating division, so too I think will the empires of the future do to Earth.

And though Earth’s position as humanity’s home planet will not change, its influence will certainly wane as time marches on. Still, one should not think that this will become a permanent thing. All societies that rise will one day collapse, and new ones will come to take their place.

In the end, I decided to take the name of Marcus Cassius, a 35th century historian who is documenting the history of the Martian Principate and the people who lived there. Some stories will be on specific historical events or people. Others will be journal entries or dramatic fiction from every day people of the age. Some stories might reference events in others, but there will be no correct order in which to read them. They can be picked up and put down as the reader pleases.

The schedule for release will be every two weeks, with the next installment coming on October 7th. Thank you all for your continued support. It means the world to me, and I hope you enjoy Tales from the Martian Principate.

-C