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 […]

The Via Flaminia

Main Via Flaminia in blue, later central alternative in pink and ‘branch line’ (Via Septempeda) in orange (CC licence source EH101)

‘All roads lead to Rome‘.

Actually, a fair number do, but it seems the saying wasn’t recorded as being coined by the Romans themselves. Of course, the Romans may well have said […]

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 […]