A bit of an odd read, get the impression that this is a later work reiterating on previous work from Cesar Aira. The core story of the book is the Legate Fulgentius is sent to pacify the region of Pannonia (Upper Balkans/Central Europe) while he seeks to continuously re-stage the play he wrote as a child along the way. There's a sense of detachment where Fulgentius will melancholy over the corpse of a young pannonian killed by his legion (in an almost Vergilian Lacrimae Rerum-esque scene, easily one of the more memorable scenes from the novella) but quickly forgets it to hem and haw over the actors he wishes to recruit in the new hamlet his army occupies. There's something obviously autobiographical here, Aira being the same age as Fulgentius when it was published and the running theme of artistic exhaustion and renewal. Anything more I can't certainly say without just repeating what I saw in some other reviews. I Know the author has a bit of an odd writing style, he just slams it out without regard for extensive editing or continuity, which gives fulgentius a bit of a rough quality but some charm. In short it was a pleasurable enough short read at 120 or so pages but it leaves me at a bit of a loss, just from the loose style. Will have to read more Aira to see if i'm missing something here.