Published in hardback 11th November 2021 by Aries/Head of Zeus.
From the cover of the book:
For one to rule, the other must die.312 AD is a year of horrific and brutal warfare. Constantine’s northern army is a small force, plagued by religious rivalries, but seemingly unstoppable as they invade Maxentius’ Italian heartlands. These relentless clashes, incidents of treachery and twists of fortune see Maxentius’ armies driven back to Rome.
Constantine has his prize in sight, yet his army is diminished and on the verge of revolt. Maxentius meanwhile works to calm a restive and dissenting Roman populace. When the two forces clash in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, there are factors at work beyond their control and soon they are left with carnage.
There is only one way Constantine and Maxentius’ rivalry will end. With one on a bloodied sword and the other the sole ruler of Rome...
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We have now reached the concluding part of the Rise of Emperors series, and the fractured relationship between former friends Constantine and Maxentius has finally come to open war - even if it takes a little while for Maxentius to realise it.
The book begins with Constantine crossing the border into northwestern Italy with his small, but battle hardened, force intent on fighting his way to Rome to right some of the wrongs his old friend Maxentius has done him. Constantine will not be happy until he is wearing the Imperial purple, which he believes is his by right.
Meanwhile, Maxentius chafes against the counsel of his closest advisors to strengthen the northwestern borders in preparation for an invasion from Constantine - one that he is sure will never come. He is convinced it is his divine right to be the saviour of Rome, and all he has done to cement his place as Emperor has been justified. Unfortunately for Maxentius, Constantine has already set foot in Italy, and he finds himself on the back foot almost from the first. His delayed attempts to bolster the defences in the northern regions find his armies driven back to Rome to await a final reckoning.
And so the glorious back and forth account between Constantine and Maxentius begins, as one works his way south to Rome, and the other is harried into waiting behind his newly fortified walls - and it is far from smooth going for either of them. Constantine struggles with the heavy losses a war of attrition such as this brings, and the constant fear that the infighting in his own army will cause it to implode before he even gets near to his goal, while Maxentius is plagued with dissent in his subjects - and both are fighting a battle against treachery within their own ranks.
The action in this final instalment is relentless. taking place over a few chaotic months between January 312 AD when Constantine crosses the border into Italy, and October 312 AD when his army clashes with Maxentius' in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge to decide who will be Emperor - and it is a battle that only one will survive.
Although the course of Constantine's campaign and the outcome of his fierce rivalry with Maxentius is recorded in history, at no time does this story play out like a foregone conclusion. The detailed descriptions evoke such a wonderful feel of time and place, the battle scenes are brutal, but gripping, and neither Doherty nor Turney, in their parts as Constantine and Maxentius, flinch from depicting the harsh reality of war, or the conflicted feelings that come with it. Time and time again, you feel yourself right there in the heat of battle, with blood flying, and are aware of the importance of military decisions that may win or lose the day. The tension mounts as our two foes pitch their wits and experience against one another, and as the final fateful clash approaches it is so exciting!
I love the way our authors swing back and forth between the two men, and curiously for a book that is focussed so much on the battlefield, there is a kind of intimacy in the way we get right inside the heads of both Constantine and Maxentius. This cleverly allows you to compare and contrast the characters and behaviours of the two men. There are many similarities between them and the positions they find themselves in, especially in the relationships with their own families and how they rue the past that has brought them to this juncture, and of course, they both feel themselves justified in their actions - but it is their differences that dictate the outcome of their fierce rivalry. For me, this boils down eventually to their disparate ideas of 'Empire' - with Maxentius fixed on the romantic notion of an aspirational eternal Rome at the heart of all things, and Constantine understanding that an empire is made up of its people, whatever their pedigree or where they hail from.
This has been a fabulously immersive trilogy, full of historical detail and compelling characters, and Doherty and Turney have done a stellar job of weaving everything together into three books that keep you glued to the page. I find myself more than a little bereft to have reached the final volume, as I would love to journey on with Constantine as he founds his capital city Constantinople, but I do not regret a moment spent absorbing these stonking books. I cannot recommend this series highly enough to all lovers of cracking historical fiction.
Gods of Rome is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio book from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Aries/Head of Zeus for sending me a gorgeous hardback edition of this book in return for and honest review and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the authors:
Simon Turney is the author of the Marius’ Mules and Praetorian series, as well as The Damned Emperor series for Orion and Tales of the Empire series for Canelo. He is based in Yorkshire.
Gordon Doherty is the author of the Legionary and Strategos series, and wrote the Assassin’s Creed tie-in novel Odyssey. He is based in Scotland.
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