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Rome
'Highly recommend for anybody who loves Roman history, written by one of its true masters' PETER GIBBONS
'Epic in scope and intimate in historical detail' MATTHEW HARFFY
'Authentic, fast-paced and immersive' CHRISTIAN CAMERON
'A masterpiece of late Rome' S.J.A. TURNEY
'Historical settings and characters that leap into life straight off the page' SCOTT MARIANI
'A vivid page-turning epic' ANNE O'BRIEN
For an empress to rise, a city must fall...
Rome, 410 AD
Half-sister to Emperor Honorius, unmarried and powerless, twenty-year-old Galla Placidia watches from the shadows as imperial policies are made and unmade.
Her plans to gain power and influence are halted when the city is besieged and captured by a vast army led by Alaric the Visigoth. Taken hostage, travelling out of Italy, Galla Placidia falls in love and marries a barbarian king.
At a time when Rome's power is fast dwindling, its authority diminishing year upon year, she embarks on a dangerous and remarkable journey towards the imperial throne.
But what price must a woman pay for power?
This is the compelling story of a little-known, remarkable woman whose burning ambition saw her, against all odds, become empress of Rome.
What your favourite authors have to say about Ben
'A rip-roaring epic' PAUL FINCH
'A truly vibrant and gripping read' HELENA GUMLEY-MASON
'Historical fiction has never been more visceral' JAMES ROLLINS
'A tour de force on an epic scale' DOUGLAS JACKSON
Readers are loving Ben
'Powerful evocation of our history' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An engaging and exciting read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Gripped me from start to finish' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Epic tales, gorgeous prose, non-stop action' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Rich in period detail and lively in narrative' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Epic in scope and intimate in historical detail' MATTHEW HARFFY
'Authentic, fast-paced and immersive' CHRISTIAN CAMERON
'A masterpiece of late Rome' S.J.A. TURNEY
'Historical settings and characters that leap into life straight off the page' SCOTT MARIANI
'A vivid page-turning epic' ANNE O'BRIEN
For an empress to rise, a city must fall...
Rome, 410 AD
Half-sister to Emperor Honorius, unmarried and powerless, twenty-year-old Galla Placidia watches from the shadows as imperial policies are made and unmade.
Her plans to gain power and influence are halted when the city is besieged and captured by a vast army led by Alaric the Visigoth. Taken hostage, travelling out of Italy, Galla Placidia falls in love and marries a barbarian king.
At a time when Rome's power is fast dwindling, its authority diminishing year upon year, she embarks on a dangerous and remarkable journey towards the imperial throne.
But what price must a woman pay for power?
This is the compelling story of a little-known, remarkable woman whose burning ambition saw her, against all odds, become empress of Rome.
What your favourite authors have to say about Ben
'A rip-roaring epic' PAUL FINCH
'A truly vibrant and gripping read' HELENA GUMLEY-MASON
'Historical fiction has never been more visceral' JAMES ROLLINS
'A tour de force on an epic scale' DOUGLAS JACKSON
Readers are loving Ben
'Powerful evocation of our history' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An engaging and exciting read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Gripped me from start to finish' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Epic tales, gorgeous prose, non-stop action' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Rich in period detail and lively in narrative' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2025
118 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Ben Kane
50 books1,109 followersBen Kane is a bestselling Roman author and former veterinarian. He was born in Kenya and grew up in Ireland (where his parents are from). He has traveled widely and is a lifelong student of military history in general, and Roman history in particular. He lives in North Somerset, England, with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 3, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, fantastic to be back in Rome with Ben Kane, been too long.
The story was fascinating in a lot of ways, the politics of the late Western Empire are not what I have normally read about in my ancient Rome travels but will this be a start of things to come, hell yes!
The characters were brilliant, engaging and always kept me wanting more, you know characters are great when their chapter ends and your disappointed the next chapter is from a different POV, but that feeling lasts maybe a paragraph and then you are back at the races.
Also the historical detail that is captured in all Ben’s books is something that in my opinion sets him up amongst the best, so immersive and informative.
Would definitely recommend
The story was fascinating in a lot of ways, the politics of the late Western Empire are not what I have normally read about in my ancient Rome travels but will this be a start of things to come, hell yes!
The characters were brilliant, engaging and always kept me wanting more, you know characters are great when their chapter ends and your disappointed the next chapter is from a different POV, but that feeling lasts maybe a paragraph and then you are back at the races.
Also the historical detail that is captured in all Ben’s books is something that in my opinion sets him up amongst the best, so immersive and informative.
Would definitely recommend
January 4, 2026
I saw this in a Waterstones and the cover pulled me in. I don’t know much about the Western Roman Empire, so my interest was piqued.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book - good marketing got me. To start - there were some good descriptions of Roma, I learned a lot about the minutiae of life. There is one particular scene featuring a chariot race that I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the close relationship between Galla and Elpidia.
However, the main characters fell pretty flat for me. In particular, I felt the author failed to provide a compelling reason for why the male lead - Vadomar - was so doggedly devoted to Stilicho and then Galla. It felt like he solely existed as a plot device to nobly serve others, making himself useful in tight spaces, with little insight into his own personal motivations and internal world. This character just felt like a stock Gary Stu character - think of Balian of I’Belin from Kingdom of Heaven rather than Sharon Penman’s well researched novel featuring the same historical figure.
Galla was a slightly better developed character. I appreciated the author’s attempts to show her persistence in the face of limited power given her noble, but precarious position as the half sister to the Emperor. However, her storyline felt pretty 2 dimensional to me, events just happened to her in a succession and I felt not much effort was given to fleshing out how such events would impact and influence her. I also wish the book would have covered at least some time of her life as regent. It would have been interesting to see her exercise the power she gained for herself through a strategic marriage and years of subtle maneuvering around men who held physical and political power over her.
I also didn’t like the way SA was handled in this book. There were two separate scenes where the male lead happens to save a woman from rape. In each scene of the aftermath, the woman was gratuitously asked if the male lead had intervened just in time. The way these scenes were written came off as juvenile and made me cringe - there was virtually no difference between the scenes, just copy and paste.
Lastly, the supporting characters for the male lead felt completely indistinguishable. I could not tell the difference between Dog, Eriulf, Theodrid and Wulfina. These characters seemed to solely exist to serve as Vadomar’s sounding board and sacrifice themselves when duty called on behalf of Vadomar.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book - good marketing got me. To start - there were some good descriptions of Roma, I learned a lot about the minutiae of life. There is one particular scene featuring a chariot race that I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the close relationship between Galla and Elpidia.
However, the main characters fell pretty flat for me. In particular, I felt the author failed to provide a compelling reason for why the male lead - Vadomar - was so doggedly devoted to Stilicho and then Galla. It felt like he solely existed as a plot device to nobly serve others, making himself useful in tight spaces, with little insight into his own personal motivations and internal world. This character just felt like a stock Gary Stu character - think of Balian of I’Belin from Kingdom of Heaven rather than Sharon Penman’s well researched novel featuring the same historical figure.
Galla was a slightly better developed character. I appreciated the author’s attempts to show her persistence in the face of limited power given her noble, but precarious position as the half sister to the Emperor. However, her storyline felt pretty 2 dimensional to me, events just happened to her in a succession and I felt not much effort was given to fleshing out how such events would impact and influence her. I also wish the book would have covered at least some time of her life as regent. It would have been interesting to see her exercise the power she gained for herself through a strategic marriage and years of subtle maneuvering around men who held physical and political power over her.
I also didn’t like the way SA was handled in this book. There were two separate scenes where the male lead happens to save a woman from rape. In each scene of the aftermath, the woman was gratuitously asked if the male lead had intervened just in time. The way these scenes were written came off as juvenile and made me cringe - there was virtually no difference between the scenes, just copy and paste.
Lastly, the supporting characters for the male lead felt completely indistinguishable. I could not tell the difference between Dog, Eriulf, Theodrid and Wulfina. These characters seemed to solely exist to serve as Vadomar’s sounding board and sacrifice themselves when duty called on behalf of Vadomar.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2025
Been an age since Ben has written a Roman novel. His books are so deeply researched, his passion for the period always shining through the words on the page. I just had to pick this one up and give it a read.
This one tells the story of Galla Palcidia. Sister to Emperor Honorius, daughter of Theodosius the Great. It's set in a similar time period to what I have been recently writing, so for me the world Ben describes was easy to follow, but for many who are used to reading books of Rome in the classical period, the empire is very different by the time the fifth century comes around.
Galla is a fascinating character, and she certainly led an eventful life. Ben sets her up as power hungry, desperate for her life to have meaning, to have the influence needed to make the empire a better place. Rome was tough for women. To exert any sort of power they had to do it from the shadows. Marrying well was their only real hope.
In this book Ben portrays her desires and the reasons behind them well. She is well rounded, reasoned, likeable. The other main POV is a Vandal warrior called Vadomar. A soldier of Stilicho, he swears allegiance to Galla after the murder of his master, and fights throughout the book to keep her safe. Again, he is created well and likeable throughout.
The book jumps about a fair bit, beginning in 393 AD and ended in 416 AD. There is a lot of ground to cover, to say they were an eventful thirteen years for the empire is an understatement. Usurpations almost constantly, rival generals wary of letting their peers garner too much power. The empire itself waning year on year. Britannia, Africa, Gaul, Hispania all on the edge of collapse at some point. Money running out, Germanic and Gothic war hosts running riot through the heart of the empire, it was all going on! Impossible for an author to cover it all in detail in one book, but Ben has picked the key moments and made them the driving force of the plot.
All in all I'd say this book is perfect for those who want to learn as well as being entertained. Few authors know more on their subject matter than Ben does on Rome, and it's all on show in this one
This one tells the story of Galla Palcidia. Sister to Emperor Honorius, daughter of Theodosius the Great. It's set in a similar time period to what I have been recently writing, so for me the world Ben describes was easy to follow, but for many who are used to reading books of Rome in the classical period, the empire is very different by the time the fifth century comes around.
Galla is a fascinating character, and she certainly led an eventful life. Ben sets her up as power hungry, desperate for her life to have meaning, to have the influence needed to make the empire a better place. Rome was tough for women. To exert any sort of power they had to do it from the shadows. Marrying well was their only real hope.
In this book Ben portrays her desires and the reasons behind them well. She is well rounded, reasoned, likeable. The other main POV is a Vandal warrior called Vadomar. A soldier of Stilicho, he swears allegiance to Galla after the murder of his master, and fights throughout the book to keep her safe. Again, he is created well and likeable throughout.
The book jumps about a fair bit, beginning in 393 AD and ended in 416 AD. There is a lot of ground to cover, to say they were an eventful thirteen years for the empire is an understatement. Usurpations almost constantly, rival generals wary of letting their peers garner too much power. The empire itself waning year on year. Britannia, Africa, Gaul, Hispania all on the edge of collapse at some point. Money running out, Germanic and Gothic war hosts running riot through the heart of the empire, it was all going on! Impossible for an author to cover it all in detail in one book, but Ben has picked the key moments and made them the driving force of the plot.
All in all I'd say this book is perfect for those who want to learn as well as being entertained. Few authors know more on their subject matter than Ben does on Rome, and it's all on show in this one
June 15, 2025
Wow! Here's something you don't see much of any more - a book that stands alone and isn't part of a trilogy or series of 20 novels featuring the same characters in more adventures than it is possible to squeeze into a lifetime unless they live to be 160 years old. Thank you Ben Kane!!
If you're read any of Ben Kane's books in the past, you know they are always filled with a lot of action, blood, guts and gore - and that's just the first chapter! And if you're someone who loves all those things, you'll no doubt find this book to be a major disappointment because while there is some (just not much) most of the action revolves around political maneuvering, and the search for a suitable mate for the main character, Galla Placidia so that she - the half-sister to the reigning Roman emperor - could be considered the mother of the next emperor. (highly abridged version of plot)
I had a great deal of difficulty in connecting with the characters except for Galla's bodyguard, Vadomar, who is a fictional character. Yes, there really was a Galla, and that's all that needs to be said since to say more would get into spoiler territory. If you want to find out what happens to her, you'll want to pick up this and read it. Like all of Ben Kane's books, it is well-written and flows smoothly. And after forays into other eras, it's good to see him going back to Rome where he truly excels although this particular book is not Ancient Rome as his other Roman works have been, but after the Ancient Roman Empire has fallen and been divided into East and West. (AD, or CE if you prefer, as opposed to BC or BCE).
If you enjoy good historical fiction, you can't go wrong with Ben Kane.
If you're read any of Ben Kane's books in the past, you know they are always filled with a lot of action, blood, guts and gore - and that's just the first chapter! And if you're someone who loves all those things, you'll no doubt find this book to be a major disappointment because while there is some (just not much) most of the action revolves around political maneuvering, and the search for a suitable mate for the main character, Galla Placidia so that she - the half-sister to the reigning Roman emperor - could be considered the mother of the next emperor. (highly abridged version of plot)
I had a great deal of difficulty in connecting with the characters except for Galla's bodyguard, Vadomar, who is a fictional character. Yes, there really was a Galla, and that's all that needs to be said since to say more would get into spoiler territory. If you want to find out what happens to her, you'll want to pick up this and read it. Like all of Ben Kane's books, it is well-written and flows smoothly. And after forays into other eras, it's good to see him going back to Rome where he truly excels although this particular book is not Ancient Rome as his other Roman works have been, but after the Ancient Roman Empire has fallen and been divided into East and West. (AD, or CE if you prefer, as opposed to BC or BCE).
If you enjoy good historical fiction, you can't go wrong with Ben Kane.
October 16, 2025
I had the thought of a five-star ranking until the lame ending to the storyline. You have this big build up about her wanting..... Then toward the novel end, she figures out how to achieve it then the author summarizes really quick that she succeeded and says historically really briefly and vaguely that... What a let down! I was looking forward to the story line continuing as she exercised her position. The book does well on the characterizations for all the major characterizations. There is plenty of action and adventure. Basically, this is a good book and enjoyable to read, so four stars.
January 2, 2026
A thrilling, well-written and captivating tale of Galla Placidia, the younger half-sister of Emperor Honorius in the late Roman Empire, and her quest for power. The strife, love and loss she encounters all the way, assisted by her fictional bodyguard Vadomar, make for a riveting character arc.
Kane’s prose is among the highest caliber in the historical fiction sphere, his research meticulous, and his characters well-rounded. He’s done Galla’s story justice, and it is one that deserves to be read!
Kane’s prose is among the highest caliber in the historical fiction sphere, his research meticulous, and his characters well-rounded. He’s done Galla’s story justice, and it is one that deserves to be read!
June 3, 2025
Ben Kane is one of my favourite historians and autor. I read all his books and each one is an excellent experience . This one brings a new look into life and expectations of Roman noble women, half sister to western emperor in the beginning of 5th century.
And as usual Ben Kane delivers excellent story that keeps you captivated and craving for more from the autor. I enjoyed it very much and looking forward for a new books from Ben Kane .
And as usual Ben Kane delivers excellent story that keeps you captivated and craving for more from the autor. I enjoyed it very much and looking forward for a new books from Ben Kane .
November 17, 2025
I really enjoyed this novel as someone who had little knowledge of the the main historical characters before reading it. It's nice to find a novel about Rome that doesn't focus on the same time periods we have read about countless times before.
December 29, 2025
This book was one of the more unique historical fictions I've read. I enjoyed the characters and the historical accuracy - it was pretty on point! I definitely think the last 100 pages were paced too fast, we had so much build up for Galla's reign only for it to not be focused on. I loved the overall writing style though, I found it so immersive and well explained. I often struggle with following complex political plot lines but this was explained so well.
January 11, 2026
An interesting enough read about a part of the latter Roman Empire I knew nothing about. A bit repetitive and predictable, and I’m not sure why the author ended it where he did seeing as there was quite a bit more to get to!
June 9, 2025
I found this story through the good reads recommendation page for historical fiction! I personally loved it. In this story we have a young women who is 21 and powerless, but wants to help Rome get back to it's former glory as they are being attacked. But as a women, that is certainly hard to do! So the story details all she has to do to fight to become as powerful as she wants to be and rise up the ranks of the Roman Empire. I think in the HS setting this would be a cool book to read to show women in power and help keep the kids attention through epic sword battles and war scenes. But I can admit it may be tough for the kids to keep up with all the Roman terminology and historical context. So that may take some pre-reading on the front end but I think it's worth the work. Once you get into the book and understand the history behind everything, it is quite the page turner!
June 6, 2025
Another great by Ben Kane - couldn't put it down
June 7, 2025
An excellent insight into the twilight years of Rome and its influence on the world
sff-ok-r
September 1, 2025Rokp
December 10, 2025
Excellent book.
This was an excellent book I have thoroughly enjoyed much like the other books by the author I've read so far
This was an excellent book I have thoroughly enjoyed much like the other books by the author I've read so far
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews