Julia's dilemma – Roman families, marriage and divorce in Late Antiquity

Detail from 2nd century sarcophagus© Trustees of the British Museum

Our heroine Julia Bacausa’s problem in JULIA PRIMA is that she is caught between Roman law and Christian dogma; divorced legally under the first, but bound to her unpleasant (ex-) husband under the second.

The late Roman family inherited […]

JULIA PRIMA – Two excerpts

From the Prologue – Siro, a tribesman from across the Danube border speaks…

Crossing the river at night Credit: Photosampler

The tips of the oars paddle the water softly at each stroke. Rain obscures our passage as we cross the fast-flowing river. In the dark night, the only things I see […]

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.

Virunum lay […]