60,000 miles more Roman roads!

Roaman road near Ambrussum, southern Gaul

Scientific journal Nature has just published a high-resolution dataset of roads of the Roman Empire by an international group of academics that suggests a much more extensive Road network than we could have imagined.

The new map – an online database called Itiner-e – has been compiled […]

The AD 400s and the fall of Rome

The Roman Empire in 395 at the death of Theodosius (Map: Geuiwogbil at the English Wikipedia)

In 1984, a German academic, Alexander Demandt, published a book, Der Fall Roms, and he listed 210 reasons for the fall of Rome in the West.

Barbarians inside and outside the empire, Christianity, […]

What is it about writing Romans?

The Ermine Street Guard (Photo: Caroline Morton)

Over the years I’ve been asked in interviews why Rome fascinates me and how it led to me imagining Roma Nova. I reveal all…

What period of history particularly inspires or interests you? Why? Rome! It’s almost visceral. It’s gripped me since I walked on that […]