INCEPTIO 10th Anniversary hardback!

Yes, it’s ten years since INCEPTIO burst into the world. For some full-on nostalgia, here’s what happened in 2013 when it launched at Tunbridge Wells Waterstones with broadcaster SueCook speaking.

Ten years is a long time for a book. Many don’t make it into bookshops at all. Some only survive there for six weeks. The […]

Meet Aurelia Mitela – warrior, diplomat, spy

The three ages of Aurelia

Aurelia Mitela, archetype Roma Novan, came to life when I was writing the first Roma Nova book, INCEPTIO. Then, she was the clever, experienced grandmother of Carina, the book’s heroine. But she had secrets behind her contained exterior. By the time I was halfway drafting SUCCESSIO, I was […]

4th century Roman travel

Virunum today (Photo: Wikipedia)

Roman horseman (Author photo of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline)

Travelling in the ancient world was different, fundamentally different. Young (and not so young) men were by far the most mobile in the Ancient Rome over the whole period whether you count it to AD 476 (west) or 1453 (east) because they fought […]