Rider of Rome

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 commanders.

Maximus’s advancement depends on horsemanship, endurance and his ability to survive the rivalries of officers shaped by Domitian’s earlier failures. The novels explore the Iron Gates, mountain warfare and the uncertain status of an auxiliary whose most celebrated exploit may also become the burden by which history remembers him.