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Historical person

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

10–c. 60s

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was a first-century Roman general and governor of Britain under Nero. Before his British command he had served with distinction in North Africa, and later he took part in the civil wars of AD 69.

As governor of Britain from about AD 58, Suetonius pushed Roman forces into Wales and attacked Mona (Anglesey), an important centre of resistance. While he was campaigning there, Boudica’s revolt broke out in eastern Britain and destroyed Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium. Suetonius marched back to confront the uprising, abandoned Londinium when he judged it indefensible, and then defeated Boudica’s much larger force at the battle usually associated with Watling Street. His severe reprisals after the victory contributed to his replacement as governor.

Simon Turney’s Agricola: Invader presents Suetonius Paulinus as the governor under whom the young Agricola learns soldiering in a province where Roman rule is still insecure. M. C. Scott’s Boudica: Dreaming the Hound follows the British resistance while Paulinus is campaigning against Mona, and Boudica: Dreaming the Serpent Spear confronts Boudica’s survivors with his disciplined Roman counter-offensive. Elodie Harper’s Boudicca’s Daughter places the queen’s daughters inside the revolt that forces Paulinus to abandon other operations and concentrate his army. Simon Scarrow’s Death to the Emperor likewise makes Paulinus’s response to the destruction of Roman settlements central to the campaign, culminating in the battle that breaks the uprising.

Periods

Periods linked to Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Roman Britain43–410 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Gaius Suetonius Paulinus (9 series)

Eagles of the Empire in Order

by Simon Scarrow 24 books 4.5(104,359)

The Eagles of the Empire series follows Roman soldiers Macro and Cato from the reign of Claudius into that of Nero. Their service takes them through the invasion and occupation of Britain, Mediterranean piracy, revolt, imperial court intrigue and Rome’s eastern wars, combining military campaigning with the politics…

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Legion of the Damned Roman Thrillers in Order

by Jeff Jones 5 books 4.5(3,789)

The Legion of the Damned Roman Thrillers follows Marcus Corvo, a young centurion given command of a disposable unit recruited from slaves, prisoners, deserters and former gladiators. During Nero’s reign, the improvised legion is sent wherever conventional troops or imperial officials cannot afford to fail, from the Armenian…

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Boudica Sequence in Order

by M.C. Scott 4 books 4.5(5,009)

Manda Scott’s four-volume Boudica sequence follows Breaca, the Eceni warrior who becomes Boudica, from childhood in pre-conquest Britain to the uprising against Roman occupation. The novels combine tribal politics, military conflict and the spiritual world of warriors and dreamers, presenting Roman expansion through the lives of people whose…

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Avalon in Order

by Marion Zimmer Bradley 7 books 4.1(260,516)

The Avalon series recasts British myth and history through generations of priestesses whose sanctuary preserves the worship of the Goddess as Roman power, Christianity, migration and political consolidation transform Britain. Its chronology reaches from survivors of a legendary Atlantis and the builders of Stonehenge through Bronze Age kingship,…

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Agricola in Order

by Simon Turney 4 books 4.5(6,842)

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,…

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Vespasian in Order

by Robert Fabbri 9 books 4.4(23,435)

The Vespasian series follows Titus Flavius Vespasianus from obscure young nobleman and soldier to the imperial contender who will found the Flavian dynasty. The novels use Vespasian’s career to move through the Julio-Claudian court, frontier warfare, Britain, Armenia, North Africa, Judaea and the civil-war crisis of AD 69.…

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The Sword of Cartimandua in Order

by Griff Hosker 13 books 4.4(13,425)

The Sword of Cartimandua is a Roman Britain sequence following auxiliary cavalry and frontier soldiers from the age of Cartimandua through the Flavian and early Hadrianic period. The books use Brigantian politics, Roman conquest, northern campaigning, Caledonia and Hadrian’s Wall to show Britain as a frontier province where…

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Celtic Tetralogy in Order

by Henry Treece 4 books 3.9(373)

The Celtic Tetralogy follows Britain through four major transformations: Bronze Age migration, Roman invasion, the Boudican Revolt and the struggle for power after Roman withdrawal. The books were not published in narrative order, but together they form Treece’s sustained reconstruction of an island repeatedly remade by conquest, resistance…

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Roman Britain in Order

by Henry Treece 3 books 3.9(132)

The Roman Britain series presents the island at three moments of political rupture. Legions of the Eagle begins with Claudius’s invasion and the resistance associated with Caratacus. The Eagles Have Flown moves to the fifth century, when the legions and central government have disappeared. The Queen’s Brooch returns…

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Standalone books

Standalone books featuring Gaius Suetonius Paulinus (3 books)