Salambo: High Priestess of Ancient Carthage
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Beyond the gardens of Hamilcarâs palace, beyond the walls of Carthage, the Roman hordes stood waiting to annihilate the noblest city of ancient Africa. Within the city, all was madnessâthe houses were filled with the screams of women and the streets teemed with terrified men. The veil of the goddess Tanit, sacred to Carthage, had fallen to Matho, Roman soldier-of-fortune.
But when Salambo, the exquisite daughter of Hamilcar, rode into the Roman camp, into Mathoâs tent, to exchange her beauty for the veil of Carthageâhe would throw away victory and forsake his army, his nation, and his soul for the price of her body.
Set during the historical struggle between Rome and Carthage, Flaubertâs novel offers a richly detailed portrait of the lives and rites of two ancient kingdoms moved by their allegiances to very different gods.
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Gustave Flaubert (1821â1880), French novelist and one of the masters of nineteenth-century fiction, was born in Rouen, the second son of a noted physician. Beset by ill health and personal misfortune, he led a solitary life of rigid discipline, which was reflected in his writing by his obsession with finding le mot juste (exactly the right word). His first published novel was Madame Bovary (1857). When certain passages in Madame Bovarywere judged to be offensive to public morals, Flaubert, his publisher, and his printer were tried but acquitted.
Fred Williams, a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, works in theater, film, television, and radio in England, Ireland, and America. Besides narrating audiobooks, he is a performer in living-history reenactments, an archer, and a poet.
