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by Alfred Duggan

Overview

The four-year reign of the divine Elagabalus, a most unusual, often outrageous, Roman emperor, as seen through the eyes of his loyal Praetorian bodyguard…

First published in 1960, this is the story of Elagabalus, named after the Syrian Sun god and sky-stone. At thirteen years he led his army victoriously against the might of the Emperor of Rome. He was a god-like young man: strong, beautiful, charming, and beloved of his soldiers. Once established as Emperor though, his family sought to influence him, but he rejected them, and they, like the Senate, became his deadly enemies.

Through the story of this unusual and outrageous man we see the background of third century AD Roman Empire—the power of family and dynastic ties, and the struggle between autocratic ruler and his advisers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787207462
Publisher:	Muriwai Books
Publication date:	07/31/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	974,053
File size:	907 KB

About the Author

Alfred Duggan (1903-1964) was a British historian, archeologist and best-selling historical novelist during the 1950s.

Although raised in England, he was born Alfredo León Duggan in Lomas de Zamora Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of wealthy landowners of Irish descent. His family moved to England when he was two years old. His father Alfredo Huberto Duggan, a first generation Irish Argentinian, was appointed in 1905 to the Argentine Legation in London, and died in 1915. In 1917, his mother, the Alabama-born Grace Elvira Hinds, daughter of the U.S. Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, became the second wife of Lord Curzon, the former Viceroy of India. Duggan and his brother Hubert (1904-1943) were raised in England at Curzon’s seats, and were educated, first at Wixenford and Eton, then Oxford University, where they became acquainted with Anthony Powell and Evelyn Waugh.

He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and went to work for the British Natural History Museum soon after graduation. At the age of 21 he sailed in a 600‐ton barquentine from England to Madeira, Trinidad and Panama to the Galapagos Islands collecting specimens for the museum. He was one of a handful of persons in recent years who crossed the Atlantic under sail. Later he traveled widely in Greece and Turkey, studying Byzantine monuments.

From 1938-1941 he served with the London Irish Rifles, with active service in the Norwegian Campaign. For the rest of World War II he worked in an airplane factory.

His novels are known for being based on meticulous historical research. He also wrote popular histories of Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages. His first novel, Knight With Armour, was written in 1946.

He passed away in Ross-on-Wye, England on April 4, 1964, aged 61.