Rome, 609 AD Empire is a fading memory. Repeatedly fought over and plundered, the City is falling into ruins. Killers prowl by night. Far off, in Constantinople, the Emperor has other concerns as The Church is beginning to flex its own imperial muscle. Enter Aelric of England: young and beautiful, sexually uninhibited, heroic, if ruthlessly violent - and hungry for the learning of a world that is dying around him. A deadly brawl outside Rome sucks him straight into the high politics of Empire. Soon, Aelric is involved in a race against time to find answers before he ends up as just another corpse in the gutter. Praise for the Novels of Richard Blake 'Fascinating to read, very well written, an intriguing plot and I enjoyed it very much.' - Derek Jacobi, star of I Claudius and Gladiator 'Vivid characters, devious plotting and buckets of gore are enhanced by his unfamiliar choice of period.... Nasty, fun and educational.' - The Daily Telegraph 'He knows how to deliver a fast-paced story and his grasp of the period is impressively detailed.' - The Mail on Sunday 'A rollicking and raunchy read . . . Anyone who enjoys their history with large dollops of action, sex, intrigue and, above all, fun will absolutely love this novel.' - Historical Novels 'It would be hard to over-praise this extraordinary series, a near-perfect blend of historical detail and atmosphere with the plot of a conspiracy thriller, vivid characters, high philosophy and vulgar comedy.' - The Morning Star Richard Blake is a pseudonym for Sean Gabb, who is an historian, writer and university lecturer. He lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.

Perfect for readers of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane, Conspiracies of Rome is the thrilling first book in the new seven-part DEATH OF ROME SAGA. Rome, 609 AD. Empire is a fading memory. Repeatedly fought over and plundered, the City is falling into ruins. Killers prowl by night. Far off, in Constantinople, the Emperor has other concerns as The Church is beginning to flex its own imperial muscle. Enter Aelric of England: young and beautiful, sexually uninhibited, heroic, if ruthlessly violent - and hungry for the learning of a world that is dying around him. A deadly brawl outside Rome sucks him straight into the high politics of Empire. Soon, Aelric is involved in a race against time to find answers before he ends up as just another corpse in the gutter.

Three page-turning, exhilarating thrillers from Richard Blake: CONSPIRACIES OF ROME, THE TERROR OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE BLOOD OF ALEXANDRIA. Available together as a digital-only package for the first time. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow.

"In 63 BC the corrupt aristocrat Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline in English) aimed to topple the Roman Republic. Catiline attracted a wide array of supporters: debt-ridden men and women from prominent families, youths looking for adventure, the less well-off tried of a political class that seemed only to look out for its own interests. Frustrated in his efforts to be elected consul, Catiline fled Rome while several of his associates stayed behind with secret plans to torch the city and murder its leading politicians. The story of Catiline and his conspiracy is recounted by the Roman historian Sallust in his short book, The War with Catiline Sallust's account culminates with the unmasking of these urban conspirators at a meeting of the Senate, followed by a stormy debate that led to their execution, and then the ultimate defeat of Catiline and his legions in battle. While Catiline is at the heart of the story, some of the most important figures of Roman history play key roles in the story: Cicero, the ambitious young senator who calculated how best to protect Rome; Julius Caesar, who delivers a memorable speech defending the conspirators against execution; and Cato, an ardent defender of the Republic. Catiline himself is a fascinating figure - a bitter and haunted man, determined to destroy Rome, yet sympathetic to the plight of struggling Romans. This book offers a new translation of Sallust's account of the thwarted conspiracy framed for a contemporary audience. As the translator Josiah Osgood notes in his introduction, Sallust's work is not limited to just recounting the conspiracy but engages with broader questions, still relevant today, about how republics flourish and how they break down. Sallust also poignantly describes how the corruption of Rome's leaders, worried less about the common good and more about their own advancement, spread like a disease through Roman society. Claims of conspiracy, across the political spectrum, have abounded in our time much as they did in Ancient Rome. While Catiline's plot was real and the charges of conspiracy well-founded, Osgood aims to show how Sallust's short work can help us to think about the allure of explaining the world through conspiracies, both real and imagined. This makes it a still useful source of wisdom for reflecting on a very real problem for contemporary republics"--

Conspiracy is a thread that runs throughout the tapestry of Roman history. From the earliest days of the Republic to the waning of the Empire, conspiracies and intrigues created shadow worlds that undermined the openness of Rome's representational government. To expose these dark corners and restore a sense of order and safety, Roman historians frequently wrote about famous conspiracies and about how their secret plots were detected and the perpetrators punished. These accounts reassured readers that the conspiracy was a rare exception that would not happen again—if everyone remained vigilant. In this first book-length treatment of conspiracy in Roman history, Victoria Pagán examines the narrative strategies that five prominent historians used to disclose events that had been deliberately shrouded in secrecy and silence. She compares how Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus constructed their accounts of the betrayed Catilinarian, Bacchanalian, and Pisonian conspiracies. Her analysis reveals how a historical account of a secret event depends upon the transmittal of sensitive information from a private setting to the public sphere—and why women and slaves often proved to be ideal transmitters of secrets. Pagán then turns to Josephus's and Appian's accounts of the assassinations of Caligula and Julius Caesar to explore how the two historians maintained suspense throughout their narratives, despite readers' prior knowledge of the outcomes.

Young Aulus Spurinna’s homeland, Etruria, has fallen prey to a rebel league of soldiers lead by Manlius, an experienced and dangerous Roman warrior. When his uncle dies under a cloud of mystery, Spurinna must take his uncle’s place as the landowner of all Etruria. In order to save his homeland from Manlius, Spurinna travels to Rome to seek help from a Consul, Cicero. On his journey, Spurinna teams up with Cicero’s daughter, Tullia, and together they unravel a conspiracy that could overthrow the Roman Empire. Spurinna soon finds himself thrust into the midst of a deadly battle – and a fight to save his life, his home, and Rome. This first novel by classical scholar Jack Mitchell is a gripping tale that vaults over the centuries to bring ancient Rome to thrilling life.