Roman Empire | Alison Morton's Thrillers

Roman emperors – The good, the bad and ugly

Hadrian is bearded – powerful in the spirit of the Greek god Hercules. Constantine the Great is clean shaven – a strong military leader. Vespasian is just Vespasian, Septimius Severus styles himself on his favourite god Serapis. (Author photo at the Yorkshire Museum)

At a rough count there were around a hundred Roman […]

All that sewing was worth it – the HNS Conference

Several hundred historical fiction fans gathered at Dartington Hall in Devon for a long weekend of indulging in their favourite topic. Speakers included Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon, Kate Quinn, S G Mclean, Elizabeth Chadwick and many others including yours truly. The full programme is here.

Ruth Downie, Kate Quinn and I presented about the Romans […]

Julian the 'Apostate' and that spear...

Of all the ‘what ifs’ of history, the death of Emperor Julian in AD 363 has to be one of the most intriguing. He rejected Christianity, demoted its by then prominent place in the Roman state and promoted Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place. His aim was to reduce Christianity to one of many also-ran eastern […]