Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Game | 2015 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 2 | The Price of Treason | 2015 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 3 | Eagles of Dacia | 2017 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 4 | Lions of Rome | 2019 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 5 | The Cleansing Fire | 2020 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 6 | Blades of Antioch | 2021 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 7 | The Nemesis Blade | 2024 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
| 8 | Praetorian | 2025 | Simon S J A Turney | Buy |
The Praetorian series follows Rufinus, a young soldier promoted from the legions to Rome’s elite Praetorian Guard during the troubled reign of Emperor Commodus in the late second century AD. From the cold Danubian frontier to the corridors of imperial power, Rufinus finds himself pulled into a world of conspiracy, assassination, and political maneuvering far more dangerous than any battlefield.
Turney takes a deliberately revisionist approach to Commodus, portraying him as a complex and sometimes sympathetic figure rather than the one-dimensional villain of the Gladiator film. The real threat comes from the emperor’s scheming sister Lucilla and the web of plotters around the throne. Rufinus, accompanied in later books by his companion Senova and his hound Acheron, must stay alive long enough to untangle who can be trusted.
The eight books span Rufinus’s career from raw recruit to seasoned operative, taking him across the Roman Empire from Dacia to Antioch and back to the heart of Rome.