Constatine: The Battle For Rome

Constantine the Great #1

by H.A. Culley

This is the first novel of a trilogy charting Constantine the Great’s rise to power as the first Christian Emperor of Rome. It is seen through the eyes of Titus, an officer in his bodyguard and the military tutor of his young son, Crispus. When Titus meets Flavia, one of Constantine’s female agents, on a secret mission to find an unguarded pass through the Alps, he falls in love. His struggle to win her as his wife is more difficult than any military campaign.
When Constantine marries Fausta Titus has to protect the young Crispus from his scheming step-mother and ensure that he retains his position as his father’s heir.
Heavily outnumbered, Constantine wins a series of battles against his rival for the throne of the Western Empire and enters Rome in triumph with Crispus by his side. He gives his young son command of the fleet at Ravenna but when he, Titus and Flavia arrive there, they find it has been seized by men supporting Licinius, Emperor of the East. Together they face their greatest challenge - to wrest control of the fleet back from the rebels.

Genres: Historical Fiction

182 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 2015

About the author

H.A. Culley served in the Army for twenty four years during which time he had a variety of unusual jobs. These included commanding an Arab unit in the desert for three years and a tour as the military attaché in Beirut in the late seventies.
After leaving the Army he became the business manager of a large independent school for twenty years before moving into marketing and fundraising. He has also been involved in two major historical projects and now works for an educational charity.
He has given talks on historical subjects for several years and the research involved provided his inspiration for writing historical fiction.
He has three adult children and lives near Holy Island in Northumberland with his wife and two Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Reviews

[Miles G Hossom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written!

A period about which I've read little, having had more interest in early Rome, but I confess I've missed much. Culley writes an excellent story with military precision and engaging characters. Highly recommended.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st of 3 books. So many military words! I have to skip over a lot of the battle scenes as way too hard to visualize. My main purpose in reading is to see how Constantine married the church to the government. And all the repercussions from that disastrous decision. And sadly, in the Trump era, it is playing out again.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have the adventures of a fictional character - a young Briton by the name Artorus Titus who joins the Roman cavalry - intertwined with the struggles of a real-life historical figure ,Constantine the Great, to become Caesar of the Western Roman Empire.

Titus brings some action and humor to the dramatic backdrop of Constantine's imperial power politics.

This is a fast paced story. Titus quickly rises in rank after saving Constantine's life and is given more responsibilities as an envoy and secret agent as well as military tutor to Constantine's young son, Crispus. After many skirmishes and battles the novel ends with the climatic Battle of Milvian Bridge which establishes Constantine as a top member of the Roman Tetrarchy.

Although there is a good deal of political and military strategy in this novel, it is lacking in the blood and gore excitement you will find when reading the works of Bernard Cornwell or Douglas Jackson. However, don't let that hold you back if you're interested in learning about the later Roman Empire. This novel is well researched, and it's an excellent historical primer coupled with a fairly good action story.

[Jacqueline Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the book to pretty much historically accurate and I love historical fiction. This is one of the good ones and I also love reading about the creation of an empire, such as the Byzantine empire. The book is told from the view point of a new recruit from ancient Britain and it follows his career from the Roman cavalry up to being a personal body guard to the emperor.