Almost History: David Anthony Durham

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ANCIENT HISTORIANS TEND to be a little bit unreliable when it comes to numbers.

On the other hand, the more accurate facts and figures of modern archeology tend to deflate history's epic moments.

As an author of historical fiction, David Anthony Durham tries to find a middle ground between fact and drama. "I am inspired by the events, so I want them to be on the page as accurate as possible," said the author. "But it has to work as fiction."

In "Pride of Carthage" Durham tells the story of the Second Punic War during which North African general Hannibal Barca led a sizeable Carthaginian army into Italy to challenge Rome during the second century B.C.

Durham — who received his MFA from the University of Maryland — will discuss both the book and his ideas on the writing of historical fiction in a lecture on Wednesday night at the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center.

"Pride of Carthage" isn't Durham's first foray into the genre. His well received previous books "Gabriel's Story" and "Walk Through Darkness" are both stories about the African-American experience in the American West and Civil War eras, respectively. (Meanwhile, his forthcoming book, "Acacia," dives into epic speculative fiction.)

But writing a story set in antiquity posed a few new and unique problems.

For instance, what do your 1,000-year-old characters sound like when they talk?

"There's so much we don't know, especially about Carthage," said Durham of the North African city that was completely destroyed by Rome after the Third Punic War. "That provides a lot of freedom."

It is historical fiction after all.

"I used a somewhat heightened tone, a classic way of speaking that felt natural," said Durham. "It's a matter of making the characters credible for the story to be told."

There's also the question of those historical accounts. Do you trust gargantuan ancient battle figures given or listen to the more modest contemporary research?

"Modern historians are very selective on what they believe with numbers," said Durham. "If anything, I skewed slightly conservative. On a lot of these things I split the difference."

When writing out "Pride of Carthage's" carnage, Durham once again used what served the story. "I was trying to put on page what the ancients told us happened. I didn't need to exaggerate a whole lot; it was an incredible story to begin with."

» S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW; Wed., 6:30 p.m., $25; 202-357-3030. (Smithsonian)

Written by Express contributor Aaron Leitko
Photo by Gudrun Johnston