Egypt. 25 BC. A former surgeon from the city of Ancyra, Titus Cervianus is now a capsarius – a combat medic. He is a pragmatist, a scientist – and deeply unpopular with his legion, the Twenty Second Deiotariana. The Twenty Second have been sent to deal with uprisings in Egypt. Founded as the private army […]
Domitian, an unlikely emperor
Nobody expected Domitian to become Emperor of Rome in AD81, least of all him. And though he was murdered (an occupational hazard of the role) and condemned to oblivion, he left Rome unified and stable. SJA (Simon) Turney writes about this unlikely emperor, the subject of the third in his Damned Emperors series of novels. […]
Domitian by SJA Turney
Rome, AD52, and the Julio-Claudian dynasty is in its death throes. Over the next 20 years, chaos descends as Claudius then Nero are killed. The whole empire bucks and heaves with conspiracy, rebellion and civil war. Out of the ashes and discord, a new imperial family emerges: the Flavians. Vespasian is crowned emperor, with his […]
Falling Sky by Harry Sidebottom
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. […]
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 […]
The Wall by Douglas Jackson
In AD400, Rome and its Empire are failing. Veteran cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor sets out with his regiment to make what may be his final tour of the forts along Hadrian’s Wall. Through a combination of military prowess, brutality and bribery, Marcus has spent 20 years keeping the savage Picts at bay. Feared by […]