Vol 1 Seeds of Empire (AD33 to AD37)

Vol 2 Camelod (AD39 to AD44)

Vol 3 Invasion (AD44 to AD53)

Vol 4 Boudica (AD58 to AD67)

Vol 5 Germania (AD61 to AD78)

The sciences and skills that had developed in the Mediterranean countries and cities, particularly Alexandria, were well in advance of anything that was seen after the collapse of the Roman Empire until the eighteenth century. Society was better organised too, there were enormous gaps between rich and poor, but nothing like the starvation, disease and deprivation that was common in Europe’s major cities a few centuries later. As a matter of policy (fear of the population) Rome doled out free corn to a large portion of its poorest inhabitants. They still died of disease and the violence that erupted fairly frequently, or the collapse of the multistoreyed tenements that so many lived in, but citizens of quite modest means went on holiday to the seaside! That was a rare occurrence in later Europe.

At a rough estimate, civilisation fell back by a thousand years. Standards of hygiene lapsed progressively, public bathhouses were systematically closed in London, for instance, on the basis that they gave rise to sinful behavior between men and women - the earliest reason given by preachers, to the eventual conclusion that the sight of one’s own naked body must inevitably give rise to sinful thoughts and exposure should be limited to the absolute minimum. Medicine declined in favour of prayers and astrology, surgery practically disappeared. Men and women were burned as witches for attempting to practice medicine, or advise the use of herbs, women were burned for any number of practices that it was judged were the province of men - law, preaching, accounting and, of course, men and women became open to charges of witchcraft if there was a domestic, or agricultural disaster locally. Millions died as heretics for not following the absolute word of the strongest religious organisation. The brutal conquest of the European world by Rome’s legions and the occasional bouts of genocide seemed positively benign when compared with what followed - and the advantages of being ruled by Rome had been widely appreciated by many of the conquered tribes. Increases in living standards excuse a great deal of tyranny.

The reasons for the collapse of the Empire are complex, corruption at home, over-employment of foreign troops trained by the Roman legion, faulty diplomacy, complacency and contempt for non-Romans, an unbalanced economy - but the largest contributor was the fact that one way, or another, the Roman legions were solely responsible for guarding a frontier that stretched along the Rhine and the Danube. Along that border were gradually crowded nations that were being pushed by barbarians from the east, huge numbers of very mobile barbarians, well armed and armoured. The legion’s methods and arms changed only slowly and its organisation and discipline declined. From being regarded by friend and foe alike as unbeatable, the legion came to be looked upon as merely another army - and largely recruited from the very people they were intended to fight.

The creation of Camelod in Britain by two Roman refugees (one of whom was a pupil of Heron of Alexandria) produced a nation with a disciplined army in the midst of nations of ill-disciplined warriors, and a potent commercial power that made great use of innovation and encouraged its citizens to innovate. It took decades, during which time Rome invaded, but the end result was the expulsion of the invader after fifteen years and a nation that spread its influence north of the Rhine.

See the links to the individual books