Historical Characters
Our Featured Writers

When asked why they chose to be their historical character, the overwhelming response was that they had been fascinated by that historical personage for most of their life. Queen Catherine loves Tudor England and admires Catherine of Aragon’s courage, while Anne Boleyn wonders about the “what if” of history. What if Anne had had a son? Marie Nikolaievna has always been fascinated by the story of the Romanov Family and especially likes the challenge of taking on the role of the middle child in that royal family. Harry Truman chose a character that he admires on many levels including public service, work ethic and decision making ability.

As for sticking closely to historical fact, Caesar points out that there are sometimes many interpretations of those facts. He tends to follow the version that aligns most closely to his personal views. Cleopatra VII commented that while her life is well documented on some levels, her life was much more than those facts. While she cannot change history, she can have fun with what could have been. Those who write in The Romanovs--One Last Dance are writing an alternative history as if the massacre of the Russian royal family had not occurred. Yet as Marie Nikolaievna points out, they try to stick to what is known about the personalities and traits of the people involved. The Romanovs-One Last Dance strives for historical realism even though it is totally fiction. Mark Antony comments that he also has to write in response to others and sometimes has to mold his actions to fit the circumstances as well as history.

All of these writers mentioned some type of research. Harry Truman has read David McCullough’s biography of the President and sometimes resorts to “Googling”. Cleopatra has spent a lifetime learning about Egypt and her character. Anne Boleyn, who has been fascinated by the character since she was able to read, is an ‘armchair’ Tudor historian and has many books on the period. Mark Antony deplores the fact that no really good biographies exist about the character so reads biographies of Antony’s contemporaries. Aleksandra Feodrovna has a large library of Romanov resources, but checks websites “for information that I either don’t already know or want to double check on just to make sure I have all the facts.” Alexander the Great has more than 50 books on his character which he uses and steers fellow writers to good websites that he has checked out.

When asked what they would want to ask or say to their character if they actually could meet and speak to them, the writers had lots to say. Harry Truman’s writer would like to know if the President would have done anything differently in dealing with MacArthur and in handling Congress. He would have advised the President to use his tact and skills to better advantage with his relationship to Congress in the domestic arena. Mark Antony’s writer would want to warn his character about Octavian and advise him to keep the battle of Actium on land. Cleopatra’s writer would like to know how do you actually pronounce those words? Was the Queen more Greek or Egyptian in her outlook? She also has a long list of advice for her character such as kill your brother, don’t give involved with Antony and to lay off the figs; baskets of figs have deadly content! Aleksandra Feodrovna had questions and advice for all of the people she would have known.

The last question our writers were asked was open ended. What would they like to say to others at PanHistoria about writing as a “real person” in history? Queen Catherine of Aragon pointed out that the challenge is that you have to stick to history, but it is fun to think and feel as an actual person must have done. Harry Truman echoed this sentiment saying that it has “plusses—name recognition –and minuses—not as much flexibility.” Marie Nikolaievna emphasizes that it is important to give these characters respect and that as writers we honor them by staying true to facts. Mark Antony advises anyone who wants to write as a real historical figure to learn everything you can about the person and then try to get into their head. He counsels that you need to be willing to make your own interpretation of the situation as long as you stay within the bounds of history. Anne Boleyn concurs and urges that anyone who does this needs to do their homework and put aside a modern world view. “If you truly want to write that historical figure, you cannot bring the cultural baggage of MTV, iphones and myspace into the story or you will miss their true character". Cleopatra VII says that it is just fun to write as an actual historical character and that while she is a scholar when it comes to history, she is an entertainer at heart. She urges that you take the facts and bring them to life with your own thoughts and ideas. Alexander the Great had the last word when he said “if not for my character, I would never have been at PanHistoria.” We are glad he and the others are here writing in the Historical Genre.

Clio