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A passion for maps, and Julia's journey

I love maps. Even in the digital age, I still have a print road atlas. I was recently given an Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain; I haven’t seen one since I was a kid. And, yes, it did cost 7/6 in old money at a time when a standard OS map of your local […]

Virunum – Julia's home town

Julia Bacausa’s home city of Virunum, or more formally, Municipium Claudium Virunum, was founded under Emperor Claudius (AD 41–54) as the capital of the province of Noricum which covered more or less today’s Austria and northern Slovenia. It’s gone, but there are some fascinating ruins you can visit today. (I almost did, but […]

Historical research – it's a hard road

Roman relief depicting a travelling wagon (raeda) from a tomb from Virunum, Zollfeld, Austria

Drafting my new Roma Nova story set in the fourth century is slow, glacially slow at times. I know Roma Nova, I know its ‘history’, but when you get down to the nitty gritty of writing in a time […]