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Series
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 who keep imperial administration functioning while rulers and armies change around them.
Epaphroditus and Philo provide continuity through conspiracy, coup and civil war, while historical figures including Sporus, Antonia Caenis and Domitian connect private vulnerability to dynastic ambition. Palatine begins with Nero’s fall; Galba’s Men traces Otho’s failed campaign for adoption; Otho’s Regret follows the war against Vitellius; and Vitellius’ Feast ends with the Flavian victory. The sequence combines political history with social experience, satire and the lasting effects of enslavement and palace violence.
Reading order
Rome, AD 68. Nero withdraws into music, spectacle and the pleasures of the imperial palace while rebellion spreads through the provinces. His secretary Epaphroditus keeps government functioning with the help of the young freedman Philo, but the palace household is divided by fear, ambition and abuse.…
Rome, AD 68. Galba enters the capital after violence at its gates and attempts to repair the finances, discipline and authority damaged under Nero. His government depends on Titus Vinius, Cornelius Laco and the freedman Icelus, whose influence makes them targets for petitioners and rivals. Marcus…
Rome, AD 69. Otho has seized the throne through a bloody coup only to learn that the Rhine legions have already proclaimed Aulus Vitellius emperor. The generals Fabius Valens and Aulus Caecina Alienus march enormous armies towards Italy while Otho tries to transform the conspirators, palace…
Rome, AD 69. Vitellius occupies the imperial palace and treats victory as permission for appetite, humiliation and revenge. His agents watch the capital while the court’s servants and freedmen attempt to survive another change of master. Sporus is commanded to perform a degrading public role that…