“Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” The classic comedy of Monty Python’s Life of Brian sums up the modern perception that the Roman empire was a force for good. But there are darker aspects […]
Did Roman Soldiers Suffer PTSD?
Rubicon by HWA authors Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – a debilitating psychiatric condition usually experienced after witnessing traumatic events – is all too common in the modern military, but did ancient warfare have the same effects? Anthony Riches, Roman specialist and author of the bestselling Empire series, considers the evidence. To be very clear, before I […]
Saviour of Rome by Douglas Jackson
AD 72. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, known as Vespasian, is Emperor of Rome – but his grip on power is weakening. Economic disaster threatens the city – and when Rome is threatened, so too is the Empire. Recently married and building a new home, Gaius Valerius Verrens thought he’d at last found a life away from […]
Historia Interviews: Ben Kane
Douglas Jackson chats to Ben Kane about Romans, research and the writing life. I’ve been fortunate to have been asked to interview historical fiction writer Ben Kane to celebrate the publication of his new novel, Eagles in the Storm, set in 15AD as Rome attempts to recover the eagle standards lost in the disastrous battle […]
Historia Interviews: Robert Fabbri
Robert Fabbri is best known for his bestselling Vespasian series, the most recent of which, The Furies of Rome, came out in 2016. Now he’s back with his first standalone novel, Arminius: The Limits of Empire. Author Nick Brown talks to Robert about writing and reading habits, and what we can expect from the new book. Your […]
She Wolves, Night Moths and Tomb Whores
Elisabeth Storrs explores the complex rules of prostitution in Ancient Rome. Prostitution is
Historia Interviews: Lindsey Davis
Robert Fabbri talks to bestselling author Lindsey Davis on the publication of her 30th novel. I thoroughly enjoyed Lindsey ’s new book, The Graveyard of the Hesperides, and finished it in two sittings over a weekend. Because I don’t normally read other books set in the same time that I write, so as not to […]
Ancient World Roundup
The King and the Slave – Tim Leach (Atlantic Books) Following on from the magnificent The Last King of Lydia, The King and the Slave isn’t so much a sequel as a depiction of another phase in the life of Croesus, once the King of Lydia, the richest king of them all and now reduced to […]