Dan Ryder

L. J. Trafford’s The Four Emperors series is, in my opinion, one of the most under-rated and under-read series in all Roman historical fiction. (I read quite a lot of this stuff.) It’s well written, immensely enjoyable with great plotting and good ch

L. J. Trafford’s The Four Emperors series is, in my opinion, one of the most under-rated and under-read series in all Roman historical fiction. (I read quite a lot of this stuff.) It’s well written, immensely enjoyable with great plotting and good characters, and very well researched. After reading the series, you’ll have a good handle on the year of the four emperors (69 CE), one of the most complicated brief stretches of Roman history. Of course, another job for any ancient historical novelist is to fill in the details we don’t know in a plausible and intriguing way. Trafford succeeds brilliantly in this. Her idea to relate the story largely through the eyes of the palace workforce (both slave and free) is an excellent way of tying all the action together into a coherent narrative, when the main players usually only last a few months at most!

The tone and overall feel of the series is light, with lots of humour. (As others have noted, some of this is achieved by putting modern English slang into the mouths of the characters: e.g. “to-do list,” “that sort of bird,” “the moppets,” “another muscled he-man,” “fact-finding trip,” “playing with your soldier buddies,” and “bollocks.” While these expressions may seem anachronistic on the surface, I think Trafford is careful to ensure the concepts they express are not.) Despite this light tone, you really do get very attached to some of the characters and there are some genuinely moving moments that peek through, similar to Lindsay Davis’s Falco series. If you like Falco then you’ll probably like this. However I must emphasize: you need to read the whole series to properly appreciate it (unlike with Falco). I see that the only truly negative review here is from someone who failed to do this. A mistake! There are only four quickly consumed books in the series, though, so a full read is nothing daunting.

Sometimes the humour makes for an uncomfortable juxtaposition with the (very real) brutality. I can understand why some readers would be put off by this. Personally I don’t think Trafford uses this effect to make light of sexual violence or the life of a slave; quite the opposite, in fact. Best to be forewarned that these topics are very present, however.

Overall: a must-read for any fan of ancient Roman historical fiction, and the best fictional depiction of the downfall of Nero and the civil wars to follow… as long as you don’t mind the light and humourous tone.