Fans of SJA (Simon) Turney’s Roman novels may be surprised to see that his latest book, the first of a new series, is about 11th-century Vikings. Researching the background to Blood Feud couldn’t have been be more different, he tells Historia, and involved a saga which mixes history with myth, backed up by archaeology, and […]
Review: Nero: the man behind the myth
We’ve had more than a year without major exhibitions to visit. But the British Museum has returned with one of its blockbusters: a treasure-filled and challenging exploration of the Emperor Nero. Best-selling author Simon (SJA) Turney, who knows a thing or two about the Roman Empire, reviews it for Historia and finds it one of […]
Masters of Rome by Simon Turney and Gordon Doherty
As competition for the imperial throne intensifies, Constantine and Maxentius realise their childhood friendship cannot last. Each man struggles to control their respective quadrant of empire, battered by currents of politics, religion and personal tragedy, threatened by barbarian forces and enemies within. With their positions becoming at once stronger and more troubled, the strained threads […]
Sons of Rome by Simon Turney and Gordon Doherty
As twilight descends on the third century AD, the Roman Empire is but a shadow of its former self. Decades of usurping emperors, splinter kingdoms and savage wars have left the people beleaguered, the armies weary and the future uncertain. And into this chaos Emperor Diocletian steps, reforming the succession to allow for not one […]
A game of gods: religion in a changing Roman world
The Romans threw Christians to the lions; then Constantine I converted to Christianity and everything was fine. Right? Of course it was far more complicated than that, as Simon Turney and Gordon Doherty show in Sons of Rome, their new novel which follows the rise of Constantine and his rival Maxentius. They tell Historia about […]
Commodus by Simon Turney
Worshipped by Rome. Betrayed by love. Stalked by death. Rome is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity. The Empire’s borders are growing, and there are two sons in the imperial succession for the first time in Rome’s history. But all is not as it appears. Cracks are beginning to show. Two decades of war […]
Commodus by Simon Turney
Rome is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity. The Empire’s borders are growing, and there are two sons in the imperial succession for the first time in Rome’s history. But all is not as it appears. Cracks are beginning to show. Two decades of war have taken their toll, and there are whispers of […]
The Women of the Knights Templar
Simon Turney explores the surprising history of the female Knights Templar. The Knights Templar are without a doubt one of the most well-known groups of the medieval world – studied endlessly, depicted in numerous novels and movies as both good guys and bad, their bravery and piety vaunted, their secretive nature explored, their morals questioned, their […]