Ripon writer Simon Turney, who loves roaming where the Romans roamed, has just published the first of a new trilogy co-written with his good friend Gordon Doherty

SIMON TURNEY is a writer of historical fiction and non-fiction, and an obsessive Roman historian. "The only thing I’m as obsessive about that comes close to Ancient Rome is Yorkshire and the North of England," he says. He was born and raised in Ripon and now lives in a village just north of the city with his wife, two kids "and a peculiar dog who seems to think she’s human". He loves to travel and visit historical sites, and is often to be found pottering around the Moors or the Dales "in search of what to most people appear to be grassy lumps in the ground, but to me are the stuff of fascination".

Having written numerous novels about Julius Caesar, Praetorians, Greek thieves, Templar knights and the like, he recently forayed into non-fiction, with a book on Agricola, the Roman general who led the conquest of Northern Britain, and into a writing partnership with good friend Gordon Doherty, "a Scotsman and consequently also good, northern stock!" The first book of their trilogy based on the lives and the rise of the emperors Constantine and Maxentius has just been published.

What prompted your love of history?

My love of history goes back to about the age of six, when my grandfather took me to Hadrian’s Wall and I stood atop Housesteads fort and looked out over the wild lands beyond in a blizzard. There was a connection there that I felt even then, from the top of my frozen head down to my half-frostbitten toes, and my fascination has only ever deepened. The Roman empire was so vast and so long lived that a person can study it their whole life and still have only scratched the surface of what there is to know.

Are there any Roman sites near your home that you like to visit?

Near my home they’re sparse (there was a fort only a mile away, yet now it is just ploughed field and the surface of the A1.) But I never tire of walking among the scattered remains of Roman York, of visiting the well-preserved camps at Cawthorn in the Moors, and of strolling around Piercebridge and Binchester forts in County Durham. Beyond that, I try to visit Hadrian’s Wall or the most impressive Roman fort in the country at Hardknott Pass in the Lake District.

What's your perfect day out?

On our days off, my wife and I take the dog and walk somewhere rural where there’s something historic to visit (Cawthorn, Egglestone Abbey, Pendragon Castle etc.) We spend the morning walking and enjoying the countryside and the heritage, then to a nice village pub for lunch and a couple of pints of real ale (for me at least!) A couple of hours reading there if the dog is settled enough and then back in time to pick the kids up from the school bus. A perfect day.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m on two books at the moment, a non-fiction textbook (The Dignity of Labour: Image, Work and Identity in the Roman World by Iain Ferris) and a modern thriller (Nemesis by Anthony Riches). I tend to always have one of each on the go.

What inspires you?

I draw inspiration from several things. Partially from the example my grandfather set me as a kid, for he was interested in everything and knew something about everything. Partially from the beautiful world around me, because let’s face it: who can’t be inspired by the North of England? Sometimes it’s random things that really draw me in. I once read a single line about how the Nea Ekklasia, a great Byzantine church in Constantinople, exploded when it was used as a gunpowder store, and pieces of it came down half a mile away across the Bosphorus. That led to me studying the area and the time, and eventually led to a series of books set around that event. The world is fascinating if you just look at it.

What is your proudest achievement?

Definitely my children. My daughter is a force of nature, non-stop and always wanting to do something new or interesting, from singing to horse riding, gymnastics to knitting. My boy spends most of his free time in some digital world blowing things up and cursing Tie Fighter Pilots. Yet I only have to suggest a trip out to a ruined castle and they’re both suited up and ready in moments. And they love their region and the heritage to be found. They never stop absorbing information about where they are and what it is.

What's the best thing about living in the region?

Just being here. It struck home particularly during lockdown. We are incredibly lucky that even when we are not permitted to come into close contact with others, we have the Dales to the west, the Moors to the east, the Wolds southeast, the Yorkshire coastline, the Pennines from here all the way to Northumberland. Within half an hour of leaving the house we can be exploring caves or ruins, walking up mountains or paddling in the sea. And when things return to normal and we’re safe to do so, we have some of the most beautiful towns in the country: York, Durham, Skipton, Barnard Castle, Whitby. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?

If you could meet anyone from Ancient Rome, who would you choose?

If you’d asked me that before the recent trilogy, it would probably have been Julius Caesar or the emperor Julian. Now, though, since writing Sons of Rome, I want to meet Maxentius, the last emperor to rule from Rome and the Palatine. He died in 312, and because he lost the war to Constantine, while that latter is considered a saint, Maxentius is considered a damnable and wicked soul, based on the writings of the victors. Archaeology and history suggest otherwise, that he was perhaps the last truly traditional Roman emperor, and far from the monster he has become. I would love to hear the truth from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

  • Sons of Rome by Gordon Doherty and Simon Turney (Head of Zeus, £18.99)