AD 265 in Gaul, and the Roman Empire is on the brink. Emperor Gallienus has amassed a huge army across the Alps to seize back the mountains from the usurper Postumus. War has come. Ballista and his cavalry are on the frontline, battling in the most brutal of conditions. But if he is to survive […]
Why I write about the ‘obscure’ third century AD
Harry Sidebottom, the novelist and lecturer in Ancient History, explains why he writes both fiction and history relating to a period of Roman history which is so little known about that he describes it as obscure. What is it about the third century AD that makes it a goldmine for scholars and for novelists? Why […]
The Mad Emperor: Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome by Harry Sidebottom
Varius Avitus Bassianus, known to the modern world as Heliogabalus, was proclaimed emperor. The next four years were to be the strangest in the history of the empire. Heliogabalus humiliated the prestigious Senators and threw extravagant dinner parties for lower-class friends. He ousted Jupiter from his summit among the gods and replaced him with Elagabal. […]
How Roman was Roman Britain?
The Romano-British were the native people living under Rome’s rule in the province of Britannia. But just how Roman were they? Jacquie Rogers looks at the evidence. We all think we know what is meant by Roman Britain — the four centuries, give or take, when our islands were part of the Roman empire. But […]
The Carnelian Phoenix by Jacquie Rogers
AD 224. Former Praetorian Guard Quintus Valerius travels from Britannia to visit his family in Rome. A skilled swordsman, Valerius has an unerring nose for danger and death. Valerius is travelling with his optio, Tiro, a lover of brawling and drinking from Londinium, and the woman he loves, Julia. In Gaul, Valerius receives a mysterious […]
I’m Spartacus! Slave revolts in Rome
Harry Sidebottom’s latest novel, The Burning Road, is set in Sicily during a revolt of enslaved people against the Roman Empire. He wonders why there were so few such uprisings during the many centuries of Roman rule – and why we’ve only heard of the one led by Spartacus. “I am Spartacus!” At first in […]