Father-to-son succession wasn’t necessarily the way for Roman Emperors. Far from it, says LJ Trafford, who draws on research for her book Ancient Rome’s Worst Emperors to illustrate how not to become a successful Roman Emperor. Buying the position when you’re drunk? Agreeing because a mob of thugs has a blade to your throat? Probably […]
Warrior by Alistair Tosh
It’s AD 150 and Lucius Faenius Felix — a battle-hardened tribune, scarred in body and mind — journeys to his home province of Hispania Baetica. Accompanied by his friend Cai Martis — warrior of the Nervii tribe and veteran praefect of cavalry — Felix has high hopes of recovering his family lands and avenging his […]
The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper
Amara’s journey has taken her far, from a lowly slave in Pompeii’s brothel to a high-powered courtesan in Rome. She is now a freedwoman with wealth and influence, yet she is still drawn back to her past. For while Amara is caught up in the political scheming of the Imperial palace, her daughter remains in […]
Human trafficking or slave trading? A Roman industry
In Ancient Rome, slavery was seen as perfectly acceptable, and seizing and trafficking other humans was a useful trade supplying a demand. But there were circumstances in which the Roman authorities tried, more or less successfully, to clamp down on it. Jacquie Rogers examines the evidence. Trafficking is ‘dealing or trading in something illegal’ according […]
Roman Ancient Origins edited by Lindsay Powell
Ancient Rome began as a village of humble dwellings on the Palatine and grew to be one of the mightiest and most successful empires of human history, before collapsing in the West under invasions of barbarian nations attracted by Rome’s wealth and land, over a thousand years later. The legacy of Rome continues in the […]
Ancient Love Stories by Emily Hauser
We don’t have to look to works of fiction to find tales of true love. The pages of history are crammed with stories about love that are, quite literally, true. And many of them are among the greatest love stories ever told. Ancient Love Stories brings together some of the most remarkable romances in history — […]
TV review: I, Claudius
The historian and novelist LJ Trafford, who knows the seedier, scurrilous side of Roman history as well as anyone does, reviews the BBC’s repeat of the 1976 series I, Claudius and finds that it’s still “brilliant”. There’s this thing that happens whenever movies and TV get their hands on ancient Rome: they just can’t resist […]
Para Bellum by Simon Turney
In AD381, five years have gone by since a Roman governor ordered the deaths of a Gothic king and his attendants at a feast in their honour. This disastrous act led to warfare in the Roman Empire and the death of the Emperor Valens. The Empire is now at peace, but the powerful brother of […]