Entries by Alex Gough

Emperor’s Knife out now

Emperor’s knife, book 2 of the Imperial Assassin series, and sequel to the bestselling Emperor’s Sword, is now out. Find out what Silus does next after revenging the death of his family, and what is the outcome of the deadly sibling rivalry between the co-Emperors, Caracalla and Geta.  

The Severans

The Louvre in Paris has a rich display of busts of Roman Emperors and their Imperial families. Here are four of Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta (taken in iPhone portrait mode).

Empires of Bronze: Son of Ishtar by Gordon Doherty

As a teenager with an increasing interest in historical fiction, I read The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild, and was amazed to discover this civilisation I knew next to nothing about apart from a mention in the Bible. I had the same feeling reading Empires of Bronze: Son of Ishtar, by Gordon Doherty. This is the […]

Emperor Caracalla – does he deserve his reputation?

According to Edward Gibbon, Caracalla was “the common enemy of all mankind.” Further, Gibbons says that “although not destitute of imagination and eloquence, [he] was equally devoid of judgment and humanity.” Dio Cassius (or confusingly, Cassius Dio), the Roman Senator and historian writing in the early 3rd century CE knew Caracalla personally, and seemingly hated […]

News Update

Well I’ve been quiet for a while on the Roman fiction front, although that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. My fiction career got interrupted by a couple of time consuming non-fiction books related to my vet career. One was an interesting project critiquing alternative medicine in pets (called No Way to Treat a Friend, […]

A Year of Ravens: Book review

A Year of Ravens is the second book written by the H team, a fantastic gathering of historical fiction talent. It is the first I have read, but I will definitely be going back to their first group outing, A Day of Fire. The H team consist of seven historical authors, many or all of […]

Watchmen of Rome is now available on audiobook. Check it out on Audible:  http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Watchmen-of-Rome-Audiobook/B01928PR08/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1450034467&sr=1-1

Praetorian: The Great Game by SJA Turney

SJA Turney, writer of the well-loved and extensive Marius’ Mules series, has brought us the first in a new series, with a brand new hero and a new time period. Turney tells us in his author notes that he wanted to write a re-appraisal of an emperor that history has treated unkindly, and he settled […]

Bandits of Rome

Bandits of Rome, sequel to the Amazon number 1 bestselling Watchmen of Rome, is out today on Amazon. Two five star reviews already!  Download for only £1.99 UK here or $3.10 here