Reading Group Questions for The Emperor's Spy

Please note - these questions (like the FAQ) do rather assume that you've read the book. If you haven't, you might find it less frustrating to read the book first and the questions afterwards.... 

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Q: How significant is the Prologue to the narrative drive of the novel? To what extent does what he witnesses in the prologue shape who Pantera becomes?

Q:  Scott opens the novel with a radical retelling of what has been described as ‘the greatest story ever told’. How did you respond to this? How does the narrative continue to re-frame history.  Do you find the new version plausible?

Q:  Losing or seeking a father is one of the main themes in the novel. To what extent do Math and Pantera each find the father figure they are looking for?

Q:  Discuss the difficulties faced by a historical novelist who wants to create powerful female characters. Has Scott succeeded in this?

Q:  Three key characters in the novel are well known - Nero, Saulos (known to us as St Paul), Shimon (Simon Peter, also possibly Cephas).  How does the portrayal of these men differ from your previous perception? Do you find Scott’s re-presentation of these men convincing?

Q:  What role do horses play in Math’s life, and how does his relationship with them change over time? How does his view of himself change as he comes closer to realising his dream of becoming a chariot racer? In what way could growing up in general be described as becoming a realist, rather than a dreamer?

Q:  Personal courage and self sacrifice are highly valued by all of the characters. How do they display these, to themselves, and to each other?

Q:  Honour as a theme features highly in much historical writing. Why is this? Why are readers drawn to this as a theme? To what extent does honour feature in contemporary life or contemporary novels?

Q:  The Sibyls clearly believe that what Saulos wants to create - his version of christianity -  is going to wreak havoc across the world and they are desperate to stop him. Has reading the novel changed your perception of christianity in any way?

Q:  Breathing in the smoke in the Oracle’s Temple of Truth, Pantera half remembers a key moment from his past which will be significant for everything that follows - ‘So small a thing on which a world may turn.’ How convincing do you find this idea - that one moment can change the course not only of a life, but also of a country, an empire, or the world?

Q:  The Emperor’s Spy is clearly designed as a spy thriller. What are the conventions of this genre, and how closely does the novel adhere to them. How does it compare with contemporary spy thrillers?

Q:  At what point did you realise that it was Saulos who would see Rome burn? What clues does Scott offer the reader?

Q:  Hannah says to Math (about being a chariot racer), ‘Good enough is how you lose’ . Is this useful advice is life generally?

Q:  ‘Math would have risked his soul for Pantera for nothing at all’ (page 40). What is it about Pantera that draws people to him?

Q:  Pantera clearly comes to love Hannah but also realises he must lose her if he is to save Math from Nero.  How does competing love create tension in the novel?  And in other novels?  In life?

Q:  The phrase ‘fiddling while Rome burns’ is based on our belief of how Nero behaved during the fire. Leaving aside that fiddles hadn’t been invented then (!) Tacitus tells us that he drove in from Antium and organised the evacuation of the ghettoes into his palace - an act that went against all the social and class mores of his day.  How and why do certain myths (spin) succeed in the competing versions of history? Do we believe what we want to believe?  Or what others want us to believe?  Whose belief system wins the day?

Q:  One of the rules of writing is that an author should not introduce new characters late in the novel.  Scott introduces us to Mergus at the beginning of the last section. Do you feel you have come to know him by the end?

Q:  Did you realise that Math and Ajax were brothers before Math found out at the end? Did it change how you viewed the novel?  

Q:  Do you think Math will return to Pantera at some point?  Do you want him to?