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Historical person
Tiberius Claudius Maximus was a Roman cavalryman whose career is known from the detailed tombstone he commissioned at Philippi. He served under Domitian and Trajan, received military decorations and took part in the Dacian Wars. During the final pursuit of Decebalus, he reached the Dacian king after his suicide, severed his head and presented it to Trajan. He later served in the Parthian campaign.
Historical fiction about Trajan’s wars can use Maximus to move below the level of emperor and general while retaining a direct connection to a famous event shown on Trajan’s Column. His inscription offers unusually rich evidence for an individual soldier, but it is also a self-fashioned memorial, allowing novels to question how veterans shaped the stories of their own service.
Series
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…
All books in this series
