Entries by Alex Gough

Blood Crows by Simon Scarrow

Blood Crows by Simon Scarrow This latest outing for Macro and Cato sees our two heroes return to Britannia. Hoping for honest soldiering, away from the skullduggery and politics or Rome, the veteran soldiers are sent to a unit in the territory of the Silures in Wales, where Caratacus still holds out against the invading […]

I, Claudia by Marilyn Todd

I, Claudia By Marilyn Todd I came across this series after joining the Roman history reading group on Facebook (well worth joining if you are interested in Roman fiction, as I presume you are if you are on this site!). Marilyn Todd wrote this series back in the mid 90s, but the rise of the […]

Interview with Marilyn Todd

I recently discovered Marilyn Todd, author of the Claudia Seferius mystery series, on the Facebook Roman history readers group and read the first book, I, Claudia, in a very short space of time on holiday this summer. I, Claudia was published in the 90s in mainstream, but the series has been re-released with the help […]

How to manage your slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx

How to Manage Your Slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx, with Jerry Toner Marcus Sidonius Falx is your typical Roman aristocrat, rich, arrogant and with dozens of slaves in his possession. In this essential guide, we are taught the basics of slave-owning, as well as what not to do. Learn how to acquire a decent slave […]

Accuracy in historical fiction

Does it matter that Commodus was killed in the bath rather than in the arena, the story told in Gladiator (sorry for spoilers, but the film is rather old now)? Does it matter that according to Tacitus, Nero wasn’t in Rome while it burned, contrary to Peter Ustinov’s portrayal in Quo Vadis? Does it matter […]

Carbo the Thief and Other Tales of Ancient Rome

Carbo the Thief and Other Tales of Ancient Rome is now available here Six short stories for 75p, or $1.30 on Amazon.com. The first two stories, Carbo and the Thief, and Carbo and the Gladiator, relate adventures Carbo had when he left the legions, on his journey back to Rome. Two further tales expand the […]

Updates

So Watchmen of Rome has been number one in the amazon.co.uk Ancient history charts for nearly two weeks now! Thanks everyone for buying. Please leave a review if you feel motivated to. In other news, I have 10,000 words of the sequel written now, starting to get into the meat of the story. A few […]

Watchmen of Rome – Sources

Sources for Watchmen of Rome In addition to numerous websites, the Journal of Roman Studies and a big dollop of inspiration from a wide range of Roman historical fiction authors, below is a list of some of the sources I consulted while researching and writing Watchmen of Rome. Adkins, L. & Adkins, R. A., (1994) […]

Watchmen of Rome – historical note

This is the author’s historical note from the end of Watchmen of Rome, with spoilers removed: Historical notes The vigiles, also known as the vigiles urbani or cohortes vigilum, were the first official fire-fighting organisation in Rome. They were nicknamed the spartoli or little bucket boys after the rope buckets sealed with pitch that they […]

Watchmen of Rome is finally released!

My novel Watchmen of Rome is finally out! Click above to purchase a copy through Amazon. Watchmen is the first in a series of books about the war veteran Carbo, set in the underclass of Ancient Rome.    Carbo returns to Rome after his discharge from the legions, wanting to live a quiet life, and finds […]