Reconciling 'real' Romans and Roma Novans

Family of Drusus, Museum of Roman Civilisation, Rome (Author photo)

I’ve been fascinated by all things Roman since I walked on my first mosaic in northern Spain. At age eleven, I wanted to know who the people were who had lived in houses with such beautiful floors: what did they eat, what did […]

Sex and marriage in Roma Nova

Author photo, Venus and Mars, House of Mars And Venus, Pompeii, Naples Museum

Well, yes to sex – they are Romans – but not so much marriage, more informal family arrangements.

Marriage in the majority of cultures has meant one man and one woman, with the woman leaving her father’s family and joining […]

The Aurelia/Caius grudge match

“Dramatis personae” – you may have seen this at the top of the cast list in those plays you read at school. “Personae” is Latin for people and “dramatis” means of the drama or play. For the Roma Nova novels, it seems entirely appropriate in a world of people who are definitely dramatic!

So […]