“Triumphs and Tragedies” is an anthology of short stories on a Roman theme. Authors like Derek Birks and Peter Tonkin have contributed, and it includes my own Lucius Sestius story, “Blood Money”, and is on the Kindle Unlimited scheme.

My goodness, Pliny the Elder did not like pearls. Or seafood. “Luxurious living and the corruption of morals arises mostly from shellfish.” (Book 9. 104) Straight from telling us about crabs running backwards and changing into scorpions, Pliny gets right down to the nitty-gritty (oyster and pearl joke there), and goes on: “Out of the whole of the natural world, the sea causes most harm to our stomachs.”

I have a problem; Roman names . . .

Now that I’ve done the – 9th? 10th? – revision of the third novel in my Lucius Sestius trilogy, I am beginning …