AD235, a year in Rome when six emperors each killed off his predecessor along with his family and supporters so claiming power himself. It was a frightening, uncertain time with threats from outside Rome too. The story hinges round a senior army officer and begins a new series from a very fine author. But you have to stay alert for the total chaos and insecurity of the times can become confusing and the names don’t help! Maximus and Maximinus show father and son but sometimes full names are used, sometimes common names, just to keep you on your toes. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
Click here to see the second book in the Throne of the Caesars series, Blood & Steel.
A 'Piece of Passion' from the publisher... ‘Harry Sidebottom is an extraordinary writer, who, whether in the closed-doors, small-room power-play of imperial politics, or on the grand-scale narrative of epic set-piece battle, underpins his thrilling storytelling with incredible authenticity and historical insight. His Throne of the Caesars promises readers fiction where Patrick O’Brian meets A Song of Ice and Fire.’ - Katie Espiner, Publishing Director, HarperFiction
'An amazing story of bloodlust, ruthless ambition and revenge' The TimesFrom the bestselling author of WARRIOR OF ROME comes the first book in a new series set in third century Rome; a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war.In a single year six Emperors will lay claim to the Throne of the Caesars...SPRING AD235Dawn on the Rhine. A surprise attack and the brutal murder of the Emperor Alexander and his mother ends the Severan dynasty and shatters four decades of Roman certainty.Military hero Maximinus Thrax is the first Caesar risen from the barracks. A simple man of steel and violence, he will fight for Rome.The Senators praise the new Emperor with elaborate oratory, but will any of them accept a Caesar who was once a shepherd boy? And in the streets of the eternal city, others merely pray to escape imperial notice.In the north, as the merciless war against the barbarians consumes men and treasure, rebellion and personal tragedy drive Maximinus to desperate extremes, bloody revenge and the borders of sanity.Iron & Rust, the first book in a major new series, creates a world both sophisticated and brutal, yet firmly rooted in history; a world of intrigue, murder, passion and war, a world where men will kill to sit on the Throne of the Caesars.