History Literature / TheFoldingKnife

Early in the novel, Basso catches his wife in flagrant with his beloved sister's husband, and kills the husband in self-defense and then kills his wife (not so much in self-defense). This creates a rift between Basso and his sister and leads her to devote her life to ruining his.

Early in the novel, Basso catches his wife in flagrante with his beloved sister's husband, and kills the husband in self-defense and then kills his wife (not so much in self-defense). This creates a rift between Basso and his sister and leads her to devote her life to ruining his.

A 2010 novel by Creator/KJParker telling the story of Bassianus Severus (also known as Basso), [[JustTheFirstCitizen First Citizen]] of the Vesani Republic, variously called Basso the Wise, Basso the Great, and Basso TheMagnificent. Unfortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion all of this was undone]] by one tragic mistake. The novel starts by shown the results of said mistake, then chronicles Basso's life and achievements, leading up to that fateful moment...

* {{Expy}}: Basso is in part one to [[IClaudius the Emperor Claudius]]- he's partially deaf and has a disability (and is considered ugly), and is cuckolded and plotted against by his wives. Likewise, Basso and Claudius are both scholarly individuals with a BadassBookworm streak who are opposed by the Senate and draw power from the people and an ultra-loyal CadreOfForeignBodyguards. Basso also has a few similarities with the Athenian leader Pericles, in terms of coming from a prominent family but being derided by other aristocrats as something of a demagogue, and for having a relationship with a foreign woman that leads them to pass a law broadening the base of citizens.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Vesani Republic mixes several historical influences. In terms of overall "feel", it is akin to an Italy City State split off from the Byzantine Empire. However, the plotline of Basso's attempts to turn the Vesansi Republic into an Empire provides some parallels with the Roman Republic (with Basso being a combination of Julius Casesar and [[IClaudius Claudius]]). Additionally, the Vesani Republic's policies excluding "foreigners" from citizenship as well as a practice of providing welfare in the form of paying citizens to serve as jurors both recall the Athenian Republic (and suggest that Basso may also have some parallels with Pericles).

* VestigialEmpire: The Vesani Republic split off from a larger empire at some point in the past, and said empire has interest in taking it back. This is a result of the similarities of the setting to the ByzantineEmpire, wherein the Empire stands in for the Byzantine Empire, and the Vesani Republic for an Italian city state.

Contains examples of:

Early in the novel, Basso catches his wife in flagrante with his beloved sister's husband, and kills the husband in self-defense and then kills his wife (not so much in self-defense). This creates a riff between Basso and his sister and leads her to devote her life to ruining his.

A 2010 novel by Creator/KJParker telling the story of Bassianus Severus (also known as Basso), [[JustTheFirstCitizen First Citizen]] of the Vesani Republic, variously called Basso the Wise, Basso the Great, and Basso TheMagnificent. Unfortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion all of this was undone]] by one tragic mistake. The novel starts by shown the results of said mistake, then chronicles Basso's life and acheivements, leading up to that fateful moment...

A 2010 novel by {{KJ Parker}} telling the story of Bassianus Severus (also known as Basso), [[JustTheFirstCitizen First Citizen]] of the Vesani Republic, variously called Basso the Wise, Basso the Great, and Basso TheMagnificent. Unfortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion all of this was undone]] by one tragic mistake. The novel starts by shown the results of said mistake, then chronicles Basso's life and acheivements, leading up to that fateful moment...

A 2010 novel by K.J. Parker telling the story of Bassianus Severus (also known as Basso), [[JustTheFirstCitizen First Citizen]] of the Vesani Republic, variously called Basso the Wise, Basso the Great, and Basso TheMagnificent. Unfortunately, [[ForegoneConclusion all of this was undone]] by one tragic mistake. The novel starts by shown the results of said mistake, then chronicles Basso's life and acheivements, leading up to that fateful moment...

* AbusiveParents: Basso's parents were pretty distant towards him, and he is the same or worse towards his own sons, who he hates because they remind him of his first wife's adultery [[Mamas BabyPapasMaybe and he can never shake the feeling they aren't really his own sons]]. Notably, Basso's POV generally refers to them as "The Twins" and gives very little detail about them.
* CadreOfForeignBodyguards: The Vesani Republic relies on foreign mercernaries to fight its wars, and they are lead by generals who are themselves foreigners, and who are precluded from citizenship. This is done so as to avoid those generals becoming politically involved and establishing a military dictatorship. Taking this further, it is suggested that to a significant degree, bureaucracy is run by eunuch slaves who were abducted from foreign provinces. In both cases, it is because the Vesani see themselves as "too good" for such things, something Basso wants to change.

* AbusiveParents: Basso's parents were pretty distant towards him, and he is the same or worse towards his own sons, who he hates because they remind him of his first wife's adultery [[MammasBabyPapasMaybe and he can never shake the feeling they aren't really his own sons]]. Notably, Basso's POV generally refers to them as "The Twins" and gives very little detail about them.

* AbusiveParents: