56 pages • 1 hour read
Mark of the Thief
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Themes
The Corrupting Influence of Power
It was not unusual in antiquity for prominent and powerful members of a community to claim descent from heroes, who were themselves descended from gods. Such claims promoted the belief that high social position reflected divine support. In the case of Julius Caesar, whose magical bulla launches the story, claiming to be descended from the hero Aeneas and his mother, the goddess Venus, presented him as a man whose power and authority came directly from the gods. Thus, to challenge him was to challenge the gods themselves.
In the story about Caesar that Felix tells Nic, Caesar failed to maintain the proper reverence for the gods, believing more in his own powers than the power of the gods (a mistake heroes make in ancient myth narratives as well). In response to this delusion, Venus withdrew her support, leading to his assassination shortly after. This story of Caesar illustrates one of the traps that power creates: arrogance and loss of reverence for the true source of that power. This is the same trap that Radulf falls into. He believes so much in his own power that he believes he can challenge the gods.
A second trap of power explored in the narrative is that it can lead to obsession. The desire to wield power becomes so great that those who seek it will sacrifice anything to achieve or maintain it. This is the trap that not only Radulf but also Horatio and Valerius fall into. Radulf is consumed with the desire to hoard all the power for himself and is willing to sacrifice his grandchildren in this quest. Valerius claims that he wants to save the Roman Empire from Radulf’s destructive intentions, but ultimately, this claim is a ruse that conceals his own desire for power and influence. He is not concerned if the homes of “lesser” citizens burn down or if Horatio and Nic are killed in the process, as long as he achieves his goals in the end.
The novel suggests also that these characters’ obsessive pursuit of power at the expense of reverence and the sanctity of human bonds reflects the stance of the Roman Empire itself. Land after land is conquered, war after war fought, emperor after emperor usurped and replaced, and the cycle grinds on—all to fuel the power of the Roman Empire. The games Nic is forced to participate in make entertainment of this brutal disregard for human and animal life. Both are thrown into the arena to fight to the death as entertainment for the Roman “mob.” As Felix warns Nic in Chapter 11, the real barbarians “already live inside these walls” (68).
The Pursuit of Freedom in Body and Mind
A central question across the novel is what it means to be free not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. This question applies both to the physical condition of enslavement—in which Nic and Livia find themselves at the beginning of the novel and from which Radulf escaped through his achievements as a gladiator—and to the insidious way the organization of the Roman Empire controls its citizens’ self-perceptions. Aurelia, Felix, and Sal are not enslaved, but their vulnerability to powerful forces in Rome impacts their behavior and treatment of others.
At the start of the novel, Livia and Nic are physically enslaved in the mines. Livia is compelled to offer herself in marriage to save her brother’s life, while Nic is compelled to enter a dangerous mine shaft to recover a treasure that will benefit others, even if it has the potential to worsen his own circumstances. Though he has opportunities to escape, he chooses not to if escaping means leaving Livia behind. During his time in Rome, Nic comes to understand the ways the lack of food, proper clothing, bedding, and agency have affected his self-perception. When he is offered a bed, he finds he feels more at home on the floor. When he sees himself dressed in fine clothes and shoes, he does not recognize himself as the enslaved boy he was before. Just as the physical conditions of enslavement—manacles, orders, the ever-present threat of death by violence or starvation, the denial of basic human needs—created the conditions of mental and emotional enslavement, experiencing the life of a patrician enables him to see beyond the limits imposed on him from without. As Aurelia advises him, he grows to see himself as capable of fighting Radulf, whether with his power or by being willing to sacrifice his power if that also means cutting off Radulf’s access to it by removing the divinely powered gems from the bulla.
Aurelia, Felix, and Sal are not enslaved as Nic and Livia are, but their precarious circumstances leave them vulnerable in ways that shape their behavior. To serve Tacitus, Felix deceives and betrays Nic, concealing the fact that both Nic and Caela will be sent into the arena to die. Sal turns Nic over to Horatio in exchange for a better position and living standard. Aurelia refuses to believe that her father is disloyal to the empire, even when given evidence by Nic. However, all three characters at times provide Nic with knowledge and/or assistance, providing hope that despite the pressure put on them, it is possible to make free choices based on one’s own standards of what is just and out of duty to each other.
Cultivating Personal Agency and Self-Control
In the novel, the cultivation of personal agency and self-control develops alongside the pursuit of freedom of body and spirit. The two are intertwined, as evident in both Nic and Aurelia. Each grows to make conscious choices based on their own beliefs about right and wrong and out of regard for others.
From the outset, Nic is portrayed as a character with a strong sense of self and of justice. Despite being enslaved and at the mercy of Sal, he objects to entering the mine shaft because it has taken the lives and reality of other miners. He confesses to putting sand in Sal’s drink to make him feel discomfort. Across the novel, he speaks up for himself when his life is at risk. However, at the beginning of the novel, this native self-concept drives his reactions rather than shaping intentional actions. This plays out in his use of his magic and its connection to his emotions. When emotions like fear, frustration, or anger flood him, Nic’s magic pours out, exceeding his ability to control it. This occurs repeatedly—in the caravan on the way to Rome, at the Appian baths when he is unable to control the water flow, and in the arena when he fights Radulf by summoning a storm he struggles to control. For Nic to achieve agency and control he needs to effectively fight Radulf, he needs to accept what he can and cannot control and understand the emotions he feels. He needs to use his magic intentionally. In the final paragraph of the novel, readers learn that Nic has achieved all of the above as he reveals that he has decided to sacrifice the power of bulla for himself to ensure it did not get into the wrong hands.
Early in the novel, Aurelia is driven by one main goal: the desire to return to her father, Horatio, in a way that will provoke him to accept her. Delivering Nic, for whom Horatio has offered a bounty, is the perfect opportunity to do so. She uses Nic’s confession that he stole the bulla and lied about it as her justification, though she also lies when she needs to and initially refuses to accept that Horatio is not the great man she wants him to be. However, as she tells Nic, Aurelia cares about more than money and being reunited with her father. Early on, she is shown caring for children in a safe house to protect them from enslavers, and she advises and listens to Nic when he needs it. In the end, Aurelia can walk away from Horatio without losing her ability to grieve for him. Like Nic, Aurelia grows to align her actions with her values, taking control of who she wants to be.
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By Jennifer A. Nielsen
