Historia Augusta
The Life of Hadrian
Builder of walls, lover of Greece, the emperor who chose to consolidate rather than conquer.
The full life of one of Rome's most travelled, most cultured, and most contradictory emperors — complete with reader's guide.
Published February 1, 2025
The Life of Aelius Caesar
Hadrian's first choice of successor — charming, sickly, and dead before he could inherit.
The shortest life in the Historia Augusta, and one of the most poignant. A man groomed for supreme power who never reached it.
Published February 15, 2025
The Life of Antoninus Pius
Twenty-three years of almost unbroken peace — the emperor who never drew a sword.
The most overlooked of the Five Good Emperors built Rome's golden age not through conquest but through the daily, unspectacular exercise of good government.
Published March 1, 2025
The Life of Marcus Aurelius
Philosopher, general, reluctant emperor — the most famous ruler Rome ever produced.
Two thousand years after his death, Marcus Aurelius remains perhaps the most widely read Roman of them all. The Historia Augusta's account of his life, translated and annotated in full.
Published April 5, 2025
The Life of Lucius Verus
Co-emperor, sybarite, and reluctant general — the man who shared the throne but not the burden.
Marcus Aurelius ruled alongside a co-emperor who preferred the pleasures of Antioch to the duties of Rome. The Historia Augusta's account is not kind.
Releases Saturday, 31 May 2025
The Life of Avidius Cassius
The general who declared himself emperor while Marcus Aurelius was still alive.
A brilliant military commander who made one catastrophic miscalculation. The shortest and strangest of the imperial lives.
Releases Saturday, 7 June 2025
The Life of Commodus
Hercules reborn, gladiator emperor, and the man who brought the golden age to an abrupt end.
The son of the greatest emperor Rome produced became perhaps its most bizarre. The Historia Augusta's life of Commodus is one of its most extraordinary documents.
Releases Saturday, 14 June 2025
The Life of Pertinax
The reforming emperor who lasted eighty-seven days before his own Praetorian Guard killed him.
He came to power promising to restore order after Commodus. He was dead within three months. The Historia Augusta's account of his brief reign is a study in how good intentions meet political reality.
Releases Saturday, 21 June 2025
The Life of Didius Julianus
The man who bought the Roman Empire at auction — and paid for it with his life.
When the Praetorian Guard put the Empire up for sale in AD 193, Didius Julianus made the winning bid. He had sixty-six days to regret it.
Releases Saturday, 28 June 2025
The Life of Septimius Severus
From Africa to the throne — the general who seized power and reshaped the empire in his own image.
Born in North Africa, died on the Scottish border. The life of Septimius Severus spans the full geography of the empire and marks a turning point in its history.
Releases Saturday, 5 July 2025
The Life of Pescennius Niger
One of three men who claimed the purple in 193 — and the one who lost.
In the Year of the Five Emperors, Pescennius Niger governed Syria, commanded the loyalty of the East, and ultimately fell to Septimius Severus at the Battle of Issus.
Releases Saturday, 12 July 2025
The Life of Clodius Albinus
Governor of Britain, would-be emperor, and the last challenger Septimius Severus had to destroy.
He controlled Britain and the western provinces, was named Caesar by Severus, and then went to war with him. A life that illuminates the brutal arithmetic of Roman power.
Releases Saturday, 19 July 2025
The Life of Caracalla
Fratricide, military populist, and the emperor who gave citizenship to every free person in the empire.
He killed his brother in their mother's arms, modelled himself on Alexander the Great, and issued one of the most consequential legal documents in Roman history. The Historia Augusta does not like him.
Releases Saturday, 26 July 2025
The Life of Geta
The younger son of Severus, co-emperor for less than a year, and victim of his brother's ambition.
One of the shortest lives in the Historia Augusta, because one of the shortest reigns. Geta's biography is inseparable from his brother's — and from the moment of his death.
Releases Saturday, 2 August 2025
The Life of Macrinus
The first emperor who was not a senator — and the first to be overthrown by a teenage boy.
A Mauritanian by birth and a Praetorian prefect by career, Macrinus seized the throne after assassinating Caracalla and lost it fourteen months later to a fourteen-year-old Syrian priest.
Releases Saturday, 9 August 2025
The Life of Elagabalus
Priest, sun-god, emperor — the most bewildering reign in Roman history.
He arrived in Rome as a teenage Syrian priest insisting he was the incarnation of the sun-god Elagabal. The Historia Augusta's account of his four-year reign is one of the ancient world's great set-pieces.
Releases Saturday, 16 August 2025
The Life of Hadrian
Builder of walls, lover of Greece, the emperor who chose to consolidate rather than conquer.
The full life of one of Rome's most travelled, most cultured, and most contradictory emperors — complete with reader's guide.
Published February 1, 2025
The Life of Aelius Caesar
Hadrian's first choice of successor — charming, sickly, and dead before he could inherit.
The shortest life in the Historia Augusta, and one of the most poignant. A man groomed for supreme power who never reached it.
Published February 15, 2025
The Life of Antoninus Pius
Twenty-three years of almost unbroken peace — the emperor who never drew a sword.
The most overlooked of the Five Good Emperors built Rome's golden age not through conquest but through the daily, unspectacular exercise of good government.
Published March 1, 2025
The Life of Marcus Aurelius
Philosopher, general, reluctant emperor — the most famous ruler Rome ever produced.
Two thousand years after his death, Marcus Aurelius remains perhaps the most widely read Roman of them all. The Historia Augusta's account of his life, translated and annotated in full.
Published April 5, 2025
The Life of Lucius Verus
Co-emperor, sybarite, and reluctant general — the man who shared the throne but not the burden.
Marcus Aurelius ruled alongside a co-emperor who preferred the pleasures of Antioch to the duties of Rome. The Historia Augusta's account is not kind.
Releases Saturday, 31 May 2025
The Life of Avidius Cassius
The general who declared himself emperor while Marcus Aurelius was still alive.
A brilliant military commander who made one catastrophic miscalculation. The shortest and strangest of the imperial lives.
Releases Saturday, 7 June 2025
The Life of Commodus
Hercules reborn, gladiator emperor, and the man who brought the golden age to an abrupt end.
The son of the greatest emperor Rome produced became perhaps its most bizarre. The Historia Augusta's life of Commodus is one of its most extraordinary documents.
Releases Saturday, 14 June 2025
The Life of Pertinax
The reforming emperor who lasted eighty-seven days before his own Praetorian Guard killed him.
He came to power promising to restore order after Commodus. He was dead within three months. The Historia Augusta's account of his brief reign is a study in how good intentions meet political reality.
Releases Saturday, 21 June 2025
The Life of Didius Julianus
The man who bought the Roman Empire at auction — and paid for it with his life.
When the Praetorian Guard put the Empire up for sale in AD 193, Didius Julianus made the winning bid. He had sixty-six days to regret it.
Releases Saturday, 28 June 2025
The Life of Septimius Severus
From Africa to the throne — the general who seized power and reshaped the empire in his own image.
Born in North Africa, died on the Scottish border. The life of Septimius Severus spans the full geography of the empire and marks a turning point in its history.
Releases Saturday, 5 July 2025
The Life of Pescennius Niger
One of three men who claimed the purple in 193 — and the one who lost.
In the Year of the Five Emperors, Pescennius Niger governed Syria, commanded the loyalty of the East, and ultimately fell to Septimius Severus at the Battle of Issus.
Releases Saturday, 12 July 2025
The Life of Clodius Albinus
Governor of Britain, would-be emperor, and the last challenger Septimius Severus had to destroy.
He controlled Britain and the western provinces, was named Caesar by Severus, and then went to war with him. A life that illuminates the brutal arithmetic of Roman power.
Releases Saturday, 19 July 2025
The Life of Caracalla
Fratricide, military populist, and the emperor who gave citizenship to every free person in the empire.
He killed his brother in their mother's arms, modelled himself on Alexander the Great, and issued one of the most consequential legal documents in Roman history. The Historia Augusta does not like him.
Releases Saturday, 26 July 2025
The Life of Geta
The younger son of Severus, co-emperor for less than a year, and victim of his brother's ambition.
One of the shortest lives in the Historia Augusta, because one of the shortest reigns. Geta's biography is inseparable from his brother's — and from the moment of his death.
Releases Saturday, 2 August 2025
The Life of Macrinus
The first emperor who was not a senator — and the first to be overthrown by a teenage boy.
A Mauritanian by birth and a Praetorian prefect by career, Macrinus seized the throne after assassinating Caracalla and lost it fourteen months later to a fourteen-year-old Syrian priest.
Releases Saturday, 9 August 2025
The Life of Elagabalus
Priest, sun-god, emperor — the most bewildering reign in Roman history.
He arrived in Rome as a teenage Syrian priest insisting he was the incarnation of the sun-god Elagabal. The Historia Augusta's account of his four-year reign is one of the ancient world's great set-pieces.
Releases Saturday, 16 August 2025
The Life of Hadrian
Builder of walls, lover of Greece, the emperor who chose to consolidate rather than conquer.
The full life of one of Rome's most travelled, most cultured, and most contradictory emperors — complete with reader's guide.
Published February 1, 2025
The Life of Aelius Caesar
Hadrian's first choice of successor — charming, sickly, and dead before he could inherit.
The shortest life in the Historia Augusta, and one of the most poignant. A man groomed for supreme power who never reached it.
Published February 15, 2025
The Life of Antoninus Pius
Twenty-three years of almost unbroken peace — the emperor who never drew a sword.
The most overlooked of the Five Good Emperors built Rome's golden age not through conquest but through the daily, unspectacular exercise of good government.
Published March 1, 2025
The Life of Marcus Aurelius
Philosopher, general, reluctant emperor — the most famous ruler Rome ever produced.
Two thousand years after his death, Marcus Aurelius remains perhaps the most widely read Roman of them all. The Historia Augusta's account of his life, translated and annotated in full.
Published April 5, 2025
The Life of Lucius Verus
Co-emperor, sybarite, and reluctant general — the man who shared the throne but not the burden.
Marcus Aurelius ruled alongside a co-emperor who preferred the pleasures of Antioch to the duties of Rome. The Historia Augusta's account is not kind.
Releases Saturday, 31 May 2025
The Life of Avidius Cassius
The general who declared himself emperor while Marcus Aurelius was still alive.
A brilliant military commander who made one catastrophic miscalculation. The shortest and strangest of the imperial lives.
Releases Saturday, 7 June 2025
The Life of Commodus
Hercules reborn, gladiator emperor, and the man who brought the golden age to an abrupt end.
The son of the greatest emperor Rome produced became perhaps its most bizarre. The Historia Augusta's life of Commodus is one of its most extraordinary documents.
Releases Saturday, 14 June 2025
The Life of Pertinax
The reforming emperor who lasted eighty-seven days before his own Praetorian Guard killed him.
He came to power promising to restore order after Commodus. He was dead within three months. The Historia Augusta's account of his brief reign is a study in how good intentions meet political reality.
Releases Saturday, 21 June 2025
The Life of Didius Julianus
The man who bought the Roman Empire at auction — and paid for it with his life.
When the Praetorian Guard put the Empire up for sale in AD 193, Didius Julianus made the winning bid. He had sixty-six days to regret it.
Releases Saturday, 28 June 2025
The Life of Septimius Severus
From Africa to the throne — the general who seized power and reshaped the empire in his own image.
Born in North Africa, died on the Scottish border. The life of Septimius Severus spans the full geography of the empire and marks a turning point in its history.
Releases Saturday, 5 July 2025
The Life of Pescennius Niger
One of three men who claimed the purple in 193 — and the one who lost.
In the Year of the Five Emperors, Pescennius Niger governed Syria, commanded the loyalty of the East, and ultimately fell to Septimius Severus at the Battle of Issus.
Releases Saturday, 12 July 2025
The Life of Clodius Albinus
Governor of Britain, would-be emperor, and the last challenger Septimius Severus had to destroy.
He controlled Britain and the western provinces, was named Caesar by Severus, and then went to war with him. A life that illuminates the brutal arithmetic of Roman power.
Releases Saturday, 19 July 2025
The Life of Caracalla
Fratricide, military populist, and the emperor who gave citizenship to every free person in the empire.
He killed his brother in their mother's arms, modelled himself on Alexander the Great, and issued one of the most consequential legal documents in Roman history. The Historia Augusta does not like him.
Releases Saturday, 26 July 2025
The Life of Geta
The younger son of Severus, co-emperor for less than a year, and victim of his brother's ambition.
One of the shortest lives in the Historia Augusta, because one of the shortest reigns. Geta's biography is inseparable from his brother's — and from the moment of his death.
Releases Saturday, 2 August 2025
The Life of Macrinus
The first emperor who was not a senator — and the first to be overthrown by a teenage boy.
A Mauritanian by birth and a Praetorian prefect by career, Macrinus seized the throne after assassinating Caracalla and lost it fourteen months later to a fourteen-year-old Syrian priest.
Releases Saturday, 9 August 2025
The Life of Elagabalus
Priest, sun-god, emperor — the most bewildering reign in Roman history.
He arrived in Rome as a teenage Syrian priest insisting he was the incarnation of the sun-god Elagabal. The Historia Augusta's account of his four-year reign is one of the ancient world's great set-pieces.
Releases Saturday, 16 August 2025