The ideas behind the story
Several years ago in-between drafts of another project, I toyed around with the idea of a Roman soldier who was cursed or blessed with longevity after having rescued a group of persecuted Christians.
After 2000 years of wandering the Earth, this beaten up and somewhat demoralized individual would somehow have to dig deep and come out of retirement to save the world from its impending doom.
The idea (‘The Last Centurion’ as it was then known) was shelved in favor of another project but was revisited in late 2011 when I had the opportunity to look at it again with fresh eyes. It has somewhat altered considerably since then, such is the organic art of screenplay writing.
Much of the changes came about after stumbling across information on the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC) where a large Roman force suffered a humiliating defeat in what is now southern Turkey. The victorious Parthians took thousands of Roman prisoners to the furthest eastern corners of their empire.
As discussed in the early pages of the story, an American sinologist by the impressive name of Homer Hasenpflug Dubs in the mid-1950s put forward the idea that some of these captured Roman soldiers ended up in western China which was then ruled by the Han Dynasty.
This hypothesis of Roman soldiers settling in ancient China offered endless possibilities for the lead character, a Roman Centurion named Quintus.
Having the influence of ancient China upon Quintus’s character gave the story miles of room to move and allowed assorted periods of history and locations featured to fit together seamlessly.
Having China as its keystone, the story naturally became richly layered and relevant to today's shift to the east. In the end, the China factor also allowed Quintus the opportunity to fulfill his destiny and become the MAN OF MYTH.
