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 […]

Persecuting the Pagans

British Museum display (Author photo)

Probably because of various Hollywood films, it’s “general knowledge” that those nasty Romans spent all their time killing Christians.

Well, no…

Romans, for the most part, were comparatively tolerant in matters of religious belief and allowed countless religious sects, cults, saviours and redeemers to proselytise without restrictions. Most […]