| The Roman | |
| Author: | Mika Waltari |
| Title Orig: | Ihmiskunnan viholliset |
| Country: | Finland |
| Genre: | Historical novel |
| Publisher: | WSOY |
| Pub Date: | 1964 |
| Preceded By: | The Secret of the Kingdom |
The Roman (original title Ihmiskunnan viholliset, which translates to Mankind's Enemies) is a novel by Mika Waltari published in 1964, and was the last work of Waltari to be published during his lifetime. Set in Rome, the book is a sequel to The Secret of the Kingdom, a novel about the early days of Christianity. The protagonist and narrator is Minutus, the son of Marcus, the main character of the previous novel. Minutus is a Roman citizen striving to survive without political entanglements.
In the novel, Minutus travels from Corinth to Britain, to Rome and then to Jerusalem. Through a boyhood friendship with Nero, he becomes a sometimes advisor, sometimes a tool, and sometimes a fool of the capricious emperor. A cruel fate makes him the commander of the menagerie that supplied the wild animals that tore his firstborn son to pieces, and the book was ostensibly written as a guide for his second son, great-grandson of the Emperor Claudius.
In July 2008, news emerged that the novel had been plagiarized by television producer Colin Slater () in his novel Lindum Colonia, published in 2003.[1]