Commodus, Simon Turney
Commodus, Simon Turney
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Commodus
The Damned Emperors Book 2

Author: Simon Turney

Narrator: Helen Keeley

Unabridged: 15 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Orion

Published: 06/13/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

From the author of Caligula (an engrossing new spin on a well-known tale - The Times) comes a new standalone novel in the Damned Emperors series: Commodus.

Rome is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity. The Empire's borders are growing, and there are two sons in the imperial succession for the first time in Rome's history. But all is not as it appears. Cracks are beginning to show. Two decades of war have taken their toll, and there are whispers of a sickness in the East. The Empire stands on the brink of true disaster, an age of gold giving way to one of iron and rust, a time of reason and strength sliding into hunger and pain.

The decline may yet be halted, though. One man tries to hold the fracturing empire together. To Rome, he is their emperor, their Hercules, their Commodus.

But Commodus is breaking up himself, and when the darkness takes hold, only one woman can hold him together. To Rome she was nothing. The plaything of the emperor. To Commodus, she was everything. She was Marcia.

About Simon Turney

A born and bred Yorkshireman with a love of country, history and architecture, Simon spends most of his rare free time travelling around ancient sites, writing, researching the ancient world and reading voraciously.Following an arcane and eclectic career path that wound through everything from sheep to Microsoft networks and from paint to car sales, Simon wrote Marius' Mules. Now, with in excess of twenty novels under his belt, Simon writes full time. He lives with his wife and children and a menagerie of animals in rural North Yorkshire.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Morana

Volim povijesne romane, volim romansirane biografije u kojima se isprepliću činjenice i fikcija. Sve sam to pronašla u Komodu.......more

Goodreads review by Kate

My knowledge of Commodus is largely limited to the Gladiator movie so I found this particularly interesting. The perspective on this infamously megalomaniac emperor is provided by the freedwoman Marcia, who shared Commodus' childhood and his later life. She knew him better than anyone. Marcia's stor......more

Goodreads review by Tiffany

Mary Beard approved. very nostalgic stepping back into the world of ancient history.......more

Goodreads review by Keith

I, Gladiator The second of Turney’s series, The Damned Emperors, focuses on Commodus, the errant son of Marcus Aurelius, best known for his appearance as villain in the film, Gladiator. The ancient sources depict Commodus as essentially feckless, more interested in fighting in the arena than in rulin......more


Quotes

Astonishing . . . A fascinating, detailed and dramatic story of one of Rome's most notorious emperors SUNDAY EXPRESS

A nuanced portrait of an intriguing emperor THE TIMES

Simon Turney's Commodus combines thrilling Roman spectacle, star-crossed young lovers, and poisonous palace intrigue into a compulsively readable drama. Scrappy young freedwoman Marcia grows up in the shadows of the palace, becoming friend and confidante to the golden, haunted Imperial heir Commodus, but even Marcia's love cannot keep the prince's ghosts at bay once he becomes Emperor of Rome. A tense, taut, thrilling character study of one of Rome's most maligned rulers, transformed here into tragic hero

Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius: mad, bad and dangerous to stand too close to according to history. Simon Turney, however, does here what he did in Caligula - puts some humanity back in the beast of Rome. Warm and well-written

Turney masterfully gives readers a new and illuminating look at Emperor Commodus, but also introduces us to the clever freedwoman who should have been his empress. Seeing imperial Rome through Marcia's eyes is a delight not to be missed, and Turney is at the top of his game! STEPHANIE DRAY