The Four Emperors

The Four Emperors quartet follows the collapse of Nero’s government and the successive regimes of Galba, Otho and Vitellius before Vespasian secures power. Rather than treating AD 68–69 only as a contest among generals, the novels remain close to the Palatine household: secretaries, slaves, freedmen, lovers and entertainers who keep imperial administration functioning while rulers and armies change around them.

Epaphroditus and Philo provide continuity through conspiracy, coup and civil war, while historical figures including Sporus, Antonia Caenis and Domitian connect private vulnerability to dynastic ambition. Palatine begins with Nero’s fall; Galba’s Men traces Otho’s failed campaign for adoption; Otho’s Regret follows the war against Vitellius; and Vitellius’ Feast ends with the Flavian victory. The sequence combines political history with social experience, satire and the lasting effects of enslavement and palace violence.