Rome Crisis

This book is a narrative history of a dozen years of turmoil that begins with Rome's millennium celebrations of 248 CE and ends with the capture of the emperor Valerian by the Persians in 260. It was a period of almost unremitting disaster for Rome, involving a series of civil wars, several major invasions by Goths and Persians, economic crisis, and an empire-wide pandemic, the 'plague of Cyprian'.

The Severan dynasty came shortly after the Five Good Emperors, and it also consisted of five emperors who ruled the empire from 193-235, except for a brief interlude between 217 and 218 when Macrinus held the imperial throne. The Severans' story encapsulates many highs and lows, including able and venal emperors, expansion and loss of territory, great artistic achievements, and intellectual advancements coupled with some of the worst cruelty ever perpetrated by Romans.

A tense and brilliantly dramatic 20-page short story from the bestselling author of The Throne of the Caesars Series. AD238. Emperor Maximinus’ reign is under threat as Gordian the Younger and Elder are proclaimed as Emperor. Julius Burdo, official of the Empire, must accompany the knife-boy...

A tense and brilliantly dramatic short story from the bestselling author of The Throne of the Caesars Series. This thrilling short story opens at the end of BLOOD AND STEEL and is the perfect trailer for Harry Sidebottom’s new novel FIRE AND SWORD. AD 238. When Gordian the Younger is brutally...