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Carbo of Rome #1
Watchmen of Rome
Rome, AD 27
Gaius Valerius Carbo has returned to the heart of the Empire after 25 years serving in the legions.
He just wants to retire in peace.
But his friends are gone, his family are dead, and his home now belongs to someone else.
When local thugs attack the tavern where he is resting, he finds himself caught up in the fight, and inadvertently becomes the new owner of the building - and the enemies that come with it.
His world is turned upside down when he is confronted with a face from his past.
He had sworn to protect and look after his childhood friend Rufa after her father died alongside him in battle.
But now she has been sold into slavery, and is on the run from her mistress, Elissa.
Elissa is a powerful priestess who is organising a cult to try and destroy Rome from within.
Can Carbo protect Rufa - and Rome - from Elissa’s evil plan?
Or will her following be too strong for the Watchmen of Rome?
Praise for Alex Gough
‘For fans of Ancient History and Historical Fiction alike’ - Richard Foreman, author of the bestselling Swords of Rome series.
'It's a superb piece of work. Excellent characterisation, great action, lovely attention to detail, storming plot and a really nice ending.' - SJA Turney, author of the Marius Mules series.
Alex Gough runs www.romanfiction.com which reviews Ancient Roman fiction books, and provides interesting information about the history of Ancient Rome. Watchmen of Rome is his first novel.
Gaius Valerius Carbo has returned to the heart of the Empire after 25 years serving in the legions.
He just wants to retire in peace.
But his friends are gone, his family are dead, and his home now belongs to someone else.
When local thugs attack the tavern where he is resting, he finds himself caught up in the fight, and inadvertently becomes the new owner of the building - and the enemies that come with it.
His world is turned upside down when he is confronted with a face from his past.
He had sworn to protect and look after his childhood friend Rufa after her father died alongside him in battle.
But now she has been sold into slavery, and is on the run from her mistress, Elissa.
Elissa is a powerful priestess who is organising a cult to try and destroy Rome from within.
Can Carbo protect Rufa - and Rome - from Elissa’s evil plan?
Or will her following be too strong for the Watchmen of Rome?
Praise for Alex Gough
‘For fans of Ancient History and Historical Fiction alike’ - Richard Foreman, author of the bestselling Swords of Rome series.
'It's a superb piece of work. Excellent characterisation, great action, lovely attention to detail, storming plot and a really nice ending.' - SJA Turney, author of the Marius Mules series.
Alex Gough runs www.romanfiction.com which reviews Ancient Roman fiction books, and provides interesting information about the history of Ancient Rome. Watchmen of Rome is his first novel.
323 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2014
166 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Alex Gough
36 books111 followers Avid reader of multiple genres, including thriller, sci-fi and fantasy, but particularly interested in historical fiction. Author of Roman historical fiction, and owner of the romanfiction.com blog.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 6, 2016
Another mesmerizing Roman adventure set in the times of Tiberius, 27 AD! Carbo, newly discharged from the legions after his 25 years tour of duty, returns to his home in the Subura slums of Rome to find his mother is dead and a new family living in his boyhood apartment. So, lonely and at loose ends as to what to do now, he enters a neighborhood tavern. A neighborhood gang member appears to extort money from the owner, Carbo throws him out and soon finds himself the owner. In the course of the novel, with the aid of the local vigiles tribune, Vespillo, Carbo attempts to save Rufa, the now enslaved daughter of a fellow soldier from her evil mistress. The latter plans to destroy Rome, with sacrifice of Rufa's daughter to ancient Carthaginian deities and a monstrous fire. Also he and Vespillo fight the gang, evade a slave hunter, foil the plot, and overcome the final conflagration. My heart was in my mouth several times and the ending was most satisfactory. I would have been disappointed had the story ended any other way.
I felt right in the middle of the Subura, with its fetid smells and squalor; the author did a marvelous job of conveying the atmosphere. Characterization was done very well, especially Carbo, who displayed every emotion. At crucial times he suffers panic attacks, from his experiences as a captive at the Teutoberg disaster. After torture at the hands of the victorious Germans, he has been fortunate to escape--one of three out of twenty--and make his way home.
I appreciated the author's showing us a glimpse into the lives of some of Rome's humbler citizens, instead of the usual super-rich elite or the military. All of the action was well done and exciting. I enjoyed learning about the vigiles and their duties, especially their fire-fighting techniques. I liked the details of fighting the three big fires. There were common homophone errors, such as "he wheeled the broom" [he wielded the broom] or "nervous tick" [nervous tic], at which I sighed but at least they didn't spoil reading the novel. I do wish proofing had been more meticulous....
All in all, very highly recommended.
January 20, 2016
This book was such a pleasure to read! Of the many novels I’ve read about the Roman Empire, this one comes closest to sounding like a Roman wrote it.
Alex Gough’s protagonist, Gaius Valerius Carbo, is a hardheaded 25-year veteran of the legions who developed what we’d call PTSD after surviving the Varian massacre. He arrives back in Rome longing to see his mother again, only to find that she has died a few weeks earlier. Lost for what to do next, he stumbles upon a bully demanding protection money from a local tavern, chases him off, and on a whim buys the tavern and its two slaves from the terrorized owner.
Little does he know that his life thread is about to cross those of Rufa and her little daughter, two slaves in the household of Elissa, an enigmatic and ominous priestess who has big plans for avenging Carthage’s defeat by Rome. That was a couple of hundred years earlier, but Elissa thinks the Carthaginian gods Ba’al Hammon and Tanit are going to smile on her if she can just find the right sacrifice.
What made the tale so enjoyable to me was that the characters’ attitudes seem so authentically of their time. The views of slavery aren’t sugar-coated; the profanity and class-consciousness and relationships between men and women all ring true. The settings are lovingly described – many of them in the squalid Subura, which makes a nice change from novels set in wealthy men’s mansions. At first the occasional 21st century lingo startled me (one character asking another if something is “ok,” for example), but I buy it because it wouldn’t make sense for these rough guys to be talking Oxford English.
A relatively minor drawback with Mr. Gough’s editing is that he doesn’t insert spaces to indicate a change of scene. The object may be to keep us reading on at a breathless pace, but I think this technique actually interrupts the story’s flow while the reader pauses to get reoriented. On the other hand, the Romans didn’t even use paragraph breaks, so who am I to quibble?
Alex Gough’s protagonist, Gaius Valerius Carbo, is a hardheaded 25-year veteran of the legions who developed what we’d call PTSD after surviving the Varian massacre. He arrives back in Rome longing to see his mother again, only to find that she has died a few weeks earlier. Lost for what to do next, he stumbles upon a bully demanding protection money from a local tavern, chases him off, and on a whim buys the tavern and its two slaves from the terrorized owner.
Little does he know that his life thread is about to cross those of Rufa and her little daughter, two slaves in the household of Elissa, an enigmatic and ominous priestess who has big plans for avenging Carthage’s defeat by Rome. That was a couple of hundred years earlier, but Elissa thinks the Carthaginian gods Ba’al Hammon and Tanit are going to smile on her if she can just find the right sacrifice.
What made the tale so enjoyable to me was that the characters’ attitudes seem so authentically of their time. The views of slavery aren’t sugar-coated; the profanity and class-consciousness and relationships between men and women all ring true. The settings are lovingly described – many of them in the squalid Subura, which makes a nice change from novels set in wealthy men’s mansions. At first the occasional 21st century lingo startled me (one character asking another if something is “ok,” for example), but I buy it because it wouldn’t make sense for these rough guys to be talking Oxford English.
A relatively minor drawback with Mr. Gough’s editing is that he doesn’t insert spaces to indicate a change of scene. The object may be to keep us reading on at a breathless pace, but I think this technique actually interrupts the story’s flow while the reader pauses to get reoriented. On the other hand, the Romans didn’t even use paragraph breaks, so who am I to quibble?
January 1, 2016
This is Alex Gough’s first historical novel. The book takes place during the reign of Tiberius. Our protagonist is Pilus Prior Centurion Carbo who has just returned to Rome after 25 years in the Legions. A neighhood protection gang shakes down a tavern Carbo is eating in so he buys it. Elissa is a Priestess of the Carthaginian deities Baal-Hammon and Tanit; she plans to destroy Rome to avenge Carthage. She plans to sacrifice a child to launch her plans on Rome. The slave mother and child run away and seek protection from Carbo. Carbo has become friends with Lucius Vedius Vespillo, Tribune of the Vigiles. The Vigiles are an organization founded by Augustus for the purpose of maintaining fire safety, firefighting and law enforcement. They are the lowest rung of the Roman military/police system. Carbo must fight the protection gang and save Rome from destruction. It makes an action packed suspenseful story.
The book is well written and the characters’ development is excellent. The descriptions bring the city to life including the smell and filth. I enjoyed the fact the people in the story are of the lower classes, including freedmen and slaves. So many stories are written about just the upper classes. Gough is an excellent story teller. I am looking forward to more books by him. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Alex Hyde-White did an excellent job narrating the story. From reading this book I have gained a new author and narrator to follow.
The book is well written and the characters’ development is excellent. The descriptions bring the city to life including the smell and filth. I enjoyed the fact the people in the story are of the lower classes, including freedmen and slaves. So many stories are written about just the upper classes. Gough is an excellent story teller. I am looking forward to more books by him. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Alex Hyde-White did an excellent job narrating the story. From reading this book I have gained a new author and narrator to follow.
August 15, 2019
A truly down to earth hero leads us through an incredibly realised Rome.... great characters, lots of action and engaging plot, with plenty of twists and turns. Well worth a read.
July 25, 2014
Ahh, the sights and pungent smells of The Subura, a lovely place for the setting of this engaging story. Carbo has returned home to Rome after 25 years in the Legions from which he retired as a Pilus Prior Centurion and who survived the Teutoburg Forest disaster. All he is looking for is to reunite with his aged mother and to begin a relaxing life as a civilian, none of which is in his immediate future. From the get go the author takes the reader on an adventurous ride as Carbo faces one challenge after another. A neighborhood protection gang, a runaway slave and her daughter who Carbo had sworn an oath to protect years ago, a fanatical priestess of the old Carthaginian gods who has plans to destroy Rome using the slave’s daughter as human sacrifice and a relentless, ruthless fugitive slave hunter…suffice to say that the author has given us tale filled with action as well as a tale filled with emotional strain and anguish. The characters are well developed and are such that you feel what they feel; this is also evident in the descriptions of the stew that was the Subura, you can envision the dense crowds, the noise of hawking vendors, the smell of the detritus of chamberpots, the reality of the daily lives of the poor. That is another of the reasons I enjoyed this novel, the characters are the ordinary, the lowborn, the freedmen and the slaves not the high and mighty. Tiberius and Sejanus while they are mentioned are there only to give the sense of time and atmosphere.
As this book was recommended to me, so to do I recommend it to you. A solid 5 stars.
About the author:
I’m a veterinary surgeon from the southwest of England, working in referral practice. I have had a decades long interest in Ancient Roman history, and Watchmen of Rome is the culmination of a lot of research into the underclasses of Ancient Rome. I am also the author of two veterinary textbooks, Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats and Differential Diagnosis in Small Animal Medicine, both of which have been translated into multiple languages and are in their second editions. I would love to interact with readers, please email me at romanfiction@hotmail.co.uk. You can also follow me on twitter @romanfiction, like romanfiction on facebook, or visit my website for reviews of roman fiction, and articles about Roman history www.romanfiction.com
As this book was recommended to me, so to do I recommend it to you. A solid 5 stars.
About the author:
I’m a veterinary surgeon from the southwest of England, working in referral practice. I have had a decades long interest in Ancient Roman history, and Watchmen of Rome is the culmination of a lot of research into the underclasses of Ancient Rome. I am also the author of two veterinary textbooks, Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats and Differential Diagnosis in Small Animal Medicine, both of which have been translated into multiple languages and are in their second editions. I would love to interact with readers, please email me at romanfiction@hotmail.co.uk. You can also follow me on twitter @romanfiction, like romanfiction on facebook, or visit my website for reviews of roman fiction, and articles about Roman history www.romanfiction.com
September 18, 2019
Carbo is an ex legionary who returns to Rome after 25 years . He has no family but in his bid to look out for a childhood friend he comes up against the local gangs and an evil priestess who wants to bring Rome to it's knees. With the help of the watchmen of Rome he battles to prevent any harm to his friend or Rome.
A fascinating story and insight to how hard life could be in ancient Rome.
A fascinating story and insight to how hard life could be in ancient Rome.
January 3, 2020
Good read, pretty accurate.Historically accurate... Author doesn't give list of sources for his information, but his website does contain them and they are pretty respectable. Plausible story against the backdrop of Sejanian Rome under Tiberius' latter reign. Ironically, the story events tie in with an episode of I Claudius from back in the 1970's.
December 18, 2021
New in Rome after legion service.
An action packed opening to a series. The author is clearly well researched on the lives of slaves and of the vigiles. The poor areas of Rome are brought vividly to life. Characters are really well drawn and Carbo is a hero you are soon rooting for. I will follow the series eagerly and highly recommend to anyone interested in Roman fiction.
An action packed opening to a series. The author is clearly well researched on the lives of slaves and of the vigiles. The poor areas of Rome are brought vividly to life. Characters are really well drawn and Carbo is a hero you are soon rooting for. I will follow the series eagerly and highly recommend to anyone interested in Roman fiction.
December 5, 2019
Ridiculous
Ridiculous. Any body who had even a basic knowledge of Roman history would be horrified.
Have not a clue of what the author was attempting.
Read Emperor sword couldn't believe how bad it was. This just cements my view.
Ridiculous. Any body who had even a basic knowledge of Roman history would be horrified.
Have not a clue of what the author was attempting.
Read Emperor sword couldn't believe how bad it was. This just cements my view.
February 4, 2020
A readable adventure
The book was enjoyable, however the story seemed rushed in some respects. Not as in page turning but some things seemed to be missing, having said that it was still an enjoyable read
The book was enjoyable, however the story seemed rushed in some respects. Not as in page turning but some things seemed to be missing, having said that it was still an enjoyable read
June 14, 2018
Listened to the audiobook. Well done - the violence and drama of ancient Rome.
August 13, 2018
Enjoyable read
Enjoyed the story and characters and the history of the period. Little bit of a predictable storyline but enjoyed enough to purchase the next book in the series
Enjoyed the story and characters and the history of the period. Little bit of a predictable storyline but enjoyed enough to purchase the next book in the series
October 15, 2018
An insight into Roman life I had never read about .
An insight into Roman life I had never read about, a truly eye opener into a service I was to belong to 2centuries later
An insight into Roman life I had never read about, a truly eye opener into a service I was to belong to 2centuries later
January 22, 2020
Rather a good read :-) I liked the main characters and the setting was different.
January 19, 2021
I love this book.
February 19, 2020
Must read
This type of read is out of box of reading. It sounded good so I gave it a try. I'm glad I did. It was fantastic, outstanding an amazing writing Carbo is a great character to read. I don't know a lot of Roman history. So 4 chapters in I had to do some research to get a better understanding of the story an words. Thank you Sir for the historical lessons. It made for a easier reading of the other books you have. A Excellent story give a read.
This type of read is out of box of reading. It sounded good so I gave it a try. I'm glad I did. It was fantastic, outstanding an amazing writing Carbo is a great character to read. I don't know a lot of Roman history. So 4 chapters in I had to do some research to get a better understanding of the story an words. Thank you Sir for the historical lessons. It made for a easier reading of the other books you have. A Excellent story give a read.
December 22, 2016
Action packed story which brings to life Rome's lower classes and "real" people, not the very rich of the upper strata of Roman society whose stories are told in countless books. Set in Tiberius' Rome, the story follows a retired legionary, Carbo, who returns to Rome to start civilian life, but soon finds a number of challenges standing in his way. He soon strikes up a friendship with a member of the Vigiles, the earliest fire fighting organization in Rome who will become an invaluable ally. Murder, love, mystery...this book has it all! 4 stars
January 17, 2021
Alex Gough painted a vivid picture of what life was like for everyday Romans. Not emperors or blood thirsty narcissistic world conquering generals The sense of the violence that ancient Romans lived with each and everyday. Also, the struggles to earn a living which most people within our modern era can identify with.
The plot was simple, easy to follow but quite absorbing and the main characters likable.
A story of betrayal and injustice yes but also, loyalty and friendship.
I enjoyed it.
The plot was simple, easy to follow but quite absorbing and the main characters likable.
A story of betrayal and injustice yes but also, loyalty and friendship.
I enjoyed it.
August 31, 2015
Excellent story of crime fighting in early Imperial Rome. Carbo, returning home to the Suburra from his stint in the legions, gets caught up fighting a terrorizing gang and getting involved with the Vigiles. Very noir but well drawn characters and a love story.
November 20, 2015
A good solid work of historical fiction. Seems to accurately portray what I know of Roman life in the 1st Century CE while telling an enjoyable tale. The characters were easy to like or hate and story had a lot of action.
April 5, 2016
Good but I skimmed the last 30 pages, I think they could have been shorter without losing anything. It would have been 4 stars with better editing.
June 18, 2020
Really good
December 5, 2023
Absolutely brilliant. Reading this took me right back into ancient Rome, I felt I was living Carbo's struggles with him. Onward to book 2
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews