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Author

Simon Turney

Simon Turney writes prolific Roman and medieval historical fiction shaped by campaigns, political rivalry and close knowledge of historic landscapes.

Simon Turney is a Yorkshire-born writer who returned to formal study to complete a degree in classical history through the Open University. He has also taken part in Roman re-enactment and travelled widely to archaeological sites, experiences that support the practical detail and sense of place in his fiction. He began writing a full-length novel in 2003, combining his interest in the ancient world with a long-standing ambition to write.

That project became the Marius’ Mules series, which follows Julius Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul through soldiers, officers and political rivals. Turney has since written extensively across Roman history in the Praetorian, Rise of Emperors, Damned Emperors, Agricola and other sequences. His range also includes novels about the Knights Templar, the early Ottoman world and medieval conflict, as well as historical nonfiction. Turney’s books balance military action with strategy, administration and the personal consequences of service. They are particularly suited to readers interested in Republican and Imperial Rome, frontier warfare, crusading orders and the political struggles surrounding rulers and generals.

Periods and events

Severan Dynasty Alexandrian War Reign of Commodus Assassination of Julius Caesar Year of the Four Emperors Gallic Wars Rise of Normandy and the Duchy of Normandy Roman Britain under the Flavians Battle of Watling Street Danelaw Reign of Domitian Christianisation of Scandinavia Sack of Constantinople (1204) Holy Roman Empire

Series

Series by Simon Turney (12 series)

Last Emperor of Rome in Order

by Simon Turney 1 book 5.0

The Last Emperor of Rome series traces the rise of Constantine XI Palaiologos during the final generation of the Byzantine Empire. Beginning while he is still a prince, it places his personal courage and dynastic obligations against Ottoman expansion, internal rivalry and the shrinking resources of Constantinople. The…

Prince

5.0

Marius’ Mules in Order

by Simon Turney 17 books 4.6

The Marius’ Mules series follows Marcus Falerius Fronto and Caesar’s legions from the invasion of Gaul to the destruction of the Roman Republic. Battles recorded in Caesar’s commentaries are viewed through officers and soldiers who must endure the practical cost of his ambition, while conspiracies in Rome steadily…

Marius’ Mules -V: Sertorius’ Ghost

4.7

Marius’ Mules I

4.4

Marius’ Mules II

4.5

Marius’ Mules III

4.5

Marius’ Mules IV

4.6

Marius’ Mules V: Hades’ Gate

4.5

Marius’ Mules VI

4.5

Marius’ Mules: Prelude to War

Marius’ Mules VII

4.6

Marius’ Mules VIII

4.5

Marius’ Mules IX

4.5

Marius’ Mules X

4.6

Marius’ Mules XI

4.6

Marius’ Mules XII

4.6

Marius’ Mules XIII

4.6

Marius’ Mules XIV

4.6

Marius’ Mules XV

4.6

Wolves of Odin in Order

by Simon Turney 6 books 4.5

The Wolves of Odin series follows Halfdan and the crew of the Sea Wolf from eleventh-century Scandinavia into the interconnected world of Byzantium, Italy, Normandy, England and Norway. Their blood feud begins amid Christianisation but soon becomes a wider search for wealth, honour and belonging among rulers who…

Blood Feud

4.4

Bear of Byzantium

Iron and Gold

4.5

Wolves Around the Throne

4.6

Loki Unbound

4.5

Kings of Stone and Ice

4.7

Praetorian in Order

by Simon Turney 8 books 4.5

The Praetorian series centres on Gnaeus Marcius Rustius Rufinus, a legionary drawn into the Praetorian Guard and the lethal politics of Commodus’s court. Investigations, covert missions and frontier commands expose him to conspiracies involving imperial relatives, prefects, freedmen, senators and rival claimants to the throne. As Commodus’s reign…

Praetorian

4.3

Praetorian: The Price of Treason: Volume 2

4.3

Praetorian: Eagles of Dacia: Volume 3

4.5

Praetorian: Lions of Rome: 4

4.5

Praetorian: The Cleansing Fire: 5

4.6

Praetorian: Blades of Antioch: 6

4.5

Praetorian: The Nemesis Blade

4.6

Praetorian: The Bandit King

4.5

Agricola in Order

by Simon Turney 4 books 4.5

The Agricola series follows Gnaeus Julius Agricola from an ambitious young military tribune to the governor who carried Roman campaigning into northern Britain. His career unfolds through the Boudican Revolt, Nero’s final years, the civil wars of AD 69 and the consolidation of Flavian rule. Alongside battlefield command,…

Agricola: Invader

4.5

Agricola: Warrior

4.6

Agricola: Commander

4.6

Agricola: Conqueror

Rider of Rome in Order

by Simon Turney 1 book 4.5

Rider of Rome reimagines the career of Tiberius Claudius Maximus, the Roman cavalryman whose tombstone records service in the Dacian Wars and the pursuit of King Decebalus. The series places an auxiliary soldier at the centre of Trajan’s campaigns rather than viewing conquest solely through emperors and legionary…

The Iron Gates (Rider of Rome)

4.5

The Knights Templar in Order

by Simon Turney 6 books 4.3

The Knights Templar series follows Arnau de Vallbona, a Catalan Templar serving during the wars and political struggles of the early thirteenth century. His duties carry him through the Crown of Aragon, Almohad Iberia, the Holy Roman Empire and Constantinople, where obedience to the order repeatedly conflicts with…

Daughter of War

4.2

Last Emir

4.3

City of God (Knights Templar)

4.4

The Winter Knight (Knights Templar)

4.4

The Crescent and the Cross (Knights Templar)

4.5

The Last Crusade (Knights Templar)

4.5

The Damned Emperors in Order

by Simon Turney 4 books 4.3

The Damned Emperors series retells the reigns of Caligula, Commodus, Domitian and Caracalla through people close enough to witness their private fears and public violence. Each novel sets later hostile traditions against the personal, dynastic and political pressures that shaped an emperor condemned by Roman memory. Rather than…

Caligula

4.1

Commodus

4.3

Domitian

4.5

Caracalla

4.5

Legion XXII in Order

by Simon Turney 2 books 4.4

The Legion XXII series follows Titus Cervianus, a civilian surgeon transformed into a capsarius and soldier with Legio XXII Deiotariana in Roman Egypt. His medical skill gives the campaigns a distinctive viewpoint, moving between the wounded body, the tensions inside the legion and the strategic demands of Augustus’s…

The Capsarius

4.4

Bellatrix

4.4

Rise of Emperors in Order

by Simon Turney 3 books 4.4

Rise of Emperors follows Constantine and Maxentius from youth and friendship into the succession struggles created by Diocletian’s Tetrarchy. Their lives develop alongside abdications, rival courts, religious division and repeated civil wars as a system designed to prevent dynastic conflict instead produces competing emperors. The trilogy treats both…

Sons of Rome

4.3

Masters of Rome

4.4

Gods of Rome

4.4

Tales of the Empire in Order

by Simon Turney 7 books 4.3

Tales of the Empire is a historical-fantasy saga set in an invented imperial world shaped by Roman, Byzantine, steppe and eastern influences. Its novels move across civil war, frontier cities, court intrigue, invasion and the restoration or destruction of dynasties, while recurring families and political consequences connect otherwise…

Interregnum

4.3

Ironroot

4.3

Dark Empress by S. J. A. Turney (April 10,2014)

4.3

Emperor’s Bane (Tales of the Empire)

4.0

Insurgency

4.4

Invasion

4.4

Jade Empire

4.3

The Ottoman Cycle in Order

by Simon Turney 4 books 4.2

The Ottoman Cycle follows the Greek brothers Skiouros and Lykaion after conscription separates them within the recently conquered city of Constantinople. One escapes into the streets while the other enters the Janissaries, placing their relationship on opposite sides of the political and religious order created by Mehmed II…