I write about the people who had a lasting influence on the Byzantine world during its middle period, at the height of its wealth and power. Their lives, filled with passion, ambition and strength, are a glimpse into a civilization too often forgotten.
Imperial Passions #1
The Porta Aurea
The Byzantine Empire spirals from greatness to disaster in the eleventh century. Can one woman’s thirst for revenge stop its decline? Anna Dalassena lives at the center of Byzantine society with its vicious power struggles, love affairs, and betrayals. Rebellion puts her life and the lives of everyone she loves at risk, but could they lead to the greatest prize – a crown for her family?
Imperial Passions #2
The Great Palace
Constantinople 1057. The magnificent Byzantine Empire continues to exist only because its enemies have not yet realized how years of corrupt rulers have weakened it. A new emperor, Isaac I Comnenus, seizes the throne expecting to reverse the decline but is overwhelmed by an empty treasury, a troublesome patriarch, and invaders at every border.
Tales of Byzantium
A young empress defies her powerful father for love and her rightful place on the throne – the story of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Helena Lecapena.
A charismatic commander takes the gamble of a lifetime to save the lives of thousands of innocents – Manuel Comnenus, the father of emperors.
An exiled princess finds a new sense of purpose and creates a legacy that will stand through the ages – Anna Comnena, princess and historian.
These stories provide a glimpse of the dynamic and proud Byzantines who lived during the height of the empires splendor.
Byzantine History in the 11th Century
– A Brief Introduction
The Byzantine Empire navigated through innumerable disasters and triumphs during its many centuries, but the 11th century was pivotal to its existence. Find out why in my brief history of an empire falling from its pinnacle and forced into a heroic fight for survival.Recommendations
If you are interested in reading other novels that take place in Byzantium/Constantinople, I can recommend the following:
The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry
The Strategos Series by Gordon Doherty
Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Theodora Duology by James Conroyd Martin:
Fortune’s Child
Too Soon the Night
The Bear of Byzantium by S.J.A. Turney
Graphic Novels by Spyros Theocharis and Chrysa Sakel:
Theophano: A Byzantine Tale
Basileus: A Test of Loyalty
I photographed this mosaic at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. Galla Placidia was the daughter, sister and mother of three late emperors in the western Roman Empire, the half-sister of two emperors in the eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople, and the wife first of Ataulf, the King of the Goths, and then of Constantius III, a late western Roman emperor. Galla Placidia lived for a time in Constantinople. Her mausoleum is a few steps away from the Church at San Vitale, which was built a few years after her mausoleum and contains the famous mosaics of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife, the Empress Theodora.