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Historical person

Galba

4 BCE–69

Galba was governor of Hispania Tarraconensis when he rebelled against Nero in AD 68 and was recognised as emperor after Nero’s death. At about seventy he had long administrative and military experience, but his refusal to pay the Praetorian Guard’s expected reward and his severe financial measures quickly undermined support.

When he adopted Piso Licinianus as heir rather than Otho, Otho organised a coup. Galba was killed in the Roman Forum in January 69. Galba was born in Terracina and died in Rome.

Simon Turney’s Agricola: Warrior shows Galba as one of the rival emperors whose claims force soldiers such as Agricola to judge where loyalty and survival lie after Nero’s death. Anthony Riches’ Betrayal begins with Galba inheriting an empire whose armies are already questioning his authority. Kate Quinn’s Daughters of Rome makes his brief reign part of the rapid sequence of coups through which four emperors compete for Rome. Margaret George’s Emperor Nero approaches Galba from the other side, as the provincial challenge that helps finish Nero’s rule. Robert Fabbri’s Emperor of Rome then places Galba’s fall at the opening of the civil war that eventually creates Vespasian’s opportunity to seize the throne.

Periods

Periods linked to Galba

Year of the Four Emperors69 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Galba (9 series)

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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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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The Nero Trilogy in Order

by Conn Iggulden 3 books 4.4(9,216)

The Nero Trilogy recounts the rise and fall of Nero through the ambitions of his mother Agrippina and the lethal politics of the Julio-Claudian court. It begins with Nero’s childhood, follows his elevation over Britannicus and ends with revolt, imperial collapse and his death.

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Gaius Valerius Verrens in Order

by Douglas Jackson 9 books 4.4(17,730)

The Gaius Valerius Verrens series follows a Roman officer whose career begins during the Boudican Revolt and carries him through the violent final years of Nero’s reign, the Year of the Four Emperors and the consolidation of Flavian rule. Valerius moves between Britain, Rome, the eastern frontier, Judaea…

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Nero Series in Order

by Margaret George 2 books 4.0(5,563)

Margaret George’s Nero duology reconstructs the life of Rome’s last Julio-Claudian emperor, beginning with a childhood in which imperial blood makes Nero a target and ending with the collapse of his reign. Told largely through Nero’s own perspective, the series follows his passage through the courts of Caligula…

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Rome in Order

by M.C. Scott 4 books 4.3(4,307)

M. C. Scott’s Rome series follows Sebastos Pantera, an imperial intelligence agent whose missions take him from Nero’s Rome to the eastern provinces and back into the capital during civil war. Set in the same fictional world as the Boudica novels, the sequence combines espionage with the political…

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The Four Emperors in Order

by L. J. Trafford 4 books 4.4(505)

The Four Emperors quartet follows the collapse of Nero’s government and the successive regimes of Galba, Otho and Vitellius before Vespasian secures power. Rather than treating AD 68–69 only as a contest among generals, the novels remain close to the Palatine household: secretaries, slaves, freedmen, lovers and entertainers…

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The Empress of Rome in Order

by Kate Quinn 4 books 4.4(15,508)

The Empress of Rome sequence moves from the civil wars of AD 69 through the Flavian and Nerva–Antonine dynasties. Its fictional families cross generations of slavery, gladiatorial combat, military service and senatorial politics while real emperors repeatedly alter their fortunes. Publication order begins with Mistress of Rome, followed…

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The Centurions in Order

by Anthony Riches 3 books 4.4(2,751)

The Centurions trilogy is set during the Year of the Four Emperors and the Batavian Revolt. It follows Roman and Batavian officers whose old comradeship collapses when Galba dismisses Nero’s German bodyguard and Julius Civilis turns a frontier grievance into a major rebellion.

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Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Galba (2 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.