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Commodus
On sale
13th June 2019
Price: £20
‘Astonishing . . . A fascinating, detailed and dramatic story of one of Rome’s most notorious emperors’ SUNDAY EXPRESS
Commodus is a brilliant, thrilling novel about one of Rome’s most intriguing – and notorious – emperors, for fans of Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden, Christian Cameron, Ben Kane and Harry Sidebottom.
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 a sickness in the East. The Empire stands on the brink of true disaster, an age of gold giving way to one of iron and rust, a time of reason and strength sliding into hunger and pain.
The decline may yet be halted, though. One man tries to hold the fracturing empire together. To Rome, he is their emperor, their Hercules, their Commodus.
But Commodus is breaking up himself, and when the darkness grips, only one woman can hold him together. To Rome she was nothing. The plaything of the emperor. To Commodus, she was everything. She was Marcia.
From the author of the critically acclaimed Caligula (‘an engrossing new spin on a well-known tale’ – The Times) comes the new novel in The Damned Emperors series: Commodus.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DAMNED EMPEROR SERIES:
‘Commodus by Simon Turney is my sort of historical fiction – people who actually lived – with their lives told in an intriguing and interesting way’ – Amazon review
‘Truly a magnificent read, insightful, powerful, emotional and gripping from the start’ – Amazon review
‘Simon Turner is a first class writer, and he certainly did his research well’ Amazon review
Commodus is a brilliant, thrilling novel about one of Rome’s most intriguing – and notorious – emperors, for fans of Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden, Christian Cameron, Ben Kane and Harry Sidebottom.
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 a sickness in the East. The Empire stands on the brink of true disaster, an age of gold giving way to one of iron and rust, a time of reason and strength sliding into hunger and pain.
The decline may yet be halted, though. One man tries to hold the fracturing empire together. To Rome, he is their emperor, their Hercules, their Commodus.
But Commodus is breaking up himself, and when the darkness grips, only one woman can hold him together. To Rome she was nothing. The plaything of the emperor. To Commodus, she was everything. She was Marcia.
From the author of the critically acclaimed Caligula (‘an engrossing new spin on a well-known tale’ – The Times) comes the new novel in The Damned Emperors series: Commodus.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DAMNED EMPEROR SERIES:
‘Commodus by Simon Turney is my sort of historical fiction – people who actually lived – with their lives told in an intriguing and interesting way’ – Amazon review
‘Truly a magnificent read, insightful, powerful, emotional and gripping from the start’ – Amazon review
‘Simon Turner is a first class writer, and he certainly did his research well’ Amazon review
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Reviews
Simon Turney's Commodus combines thrilling Roman spectacle, star-crossed young lovers, and poisonous palace intrigue into a compulsively readable drama. Scrappy young freedwoman Marcia grows up in the shadows of the palace, becoming friend and confidante to the golden, haunted Imperial heir Commodus, but even Marcia's love cannot keep the prince's ghosts at bay once he becomes Emperor of Rome. A tense, taut, thrilling character study of one of Rome's most maligned rulers, transformed here into tragic hero
Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius: mad, bad and dangerous to stand too close to according to history. Simon Turney, however, does here what he did in Caligula - puts some humanity back in the beast of Rome. Warm and well-written
Turney masterfully gives readers a new and illuminating look at Emperor Commodus, but also introduces us to the clever freedwoman who should have been his empress. Seeing imperial Rome through Marcia's eyes is a delight not to be missed, and Turney is at the top of his game!
Astonishing . . . A fascinating, detailed and dramatic story of one of Rome's most notorious emperors
A nuanced portrait of an intriguing emperor
