Tom Heeren asked Robert Allen Johnson:

Do you read any history book on Rome and its empire for your novels? Is it difficult to write historical fiction based on Rome or was it easy?

Robert Allen Johnson Hi Tom, and thanks for the question.

Would you believe I immersed myself into Ancient Rome for about 6-7 years before writing my first novel in the MAGNUS series? I fell in love with the era after reading Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series and devoured everything in the genre I could find for the next few years.

Although I focused mostly on fictional portrayals of real events, I also took time to study non-fictional writings as well. Aside from the classics from Julius Caesar and Cicero, I read the works of Adrian Goldsworthy, Plutarch's "Roman Lives," and many others. For my series on Pompey the Great, the works of Peter Greenhalgh were invaluable.

Since I was so deeply entrenched within the time period and culture for all those years, it was not much of a stretch to sit down and write a book about a man and era I felt I already knew so well. All these years later, it's still a fascinating time and place for me to pick up and study in my own free time.

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