L.J. Trafford studied Ancient History at the University of Reading after which she took a job as a Tour Guide in the Lake District. Moving to London in 2000 she began writing ‘The Four Emperors’ series. The series comprises four books – Palatine, Galba’s Men, Otho’s Regret and Vitellius’ Feast – which cover the dramatic fall of Nero and the chaotic year of the four emperors that followed. Palatine received an Editor's Choice mark from The Historical Novel Society in 2015. She has subsequently written two non-fiction books How to Survive in Ancient Rome, an introduction for the would-be time traveller to the city in the year 95 CE and Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Rome. A member of The History Girls blog site she has contributed articles on such diverse subjects as Nero's favourite eunuch, how to avoid getting assassinated should you happen to become a Roman emperor and why Pliny the elder thinks sponges will destroy the world.
"""From the 'sadistically cruel' Caligula to the 'hopelessly weak' Valentinian II, the book explores the mad, bad and the catastrophically incompetent of Rome's leaders.""--Royston Crow"