In his Death of Rome Saga, Richard Blake has tapped into an era that is rich in drama and full of fiery, colorful historical personalities. It’s a wonder that earlier novelists have not tapped into this remarkable period; Blake is virtually alone in describing the Roman Empire of the Seventh Century. I’m glad he’s taken the job and doing it with such aplomb.

This time around in the The Terror of Constantinople, Blake paints the gripping story of the young adventurer Alaric using his wits to survive in a deadly environment where the usurper, Phocas, has overthrown the Emperor Maurice and lords over the citizens of Constantinople with a heavy hand.

Richard Fidler in his Ghost Empire made me aware of the vile Emperor Phocas and told me enough about his reign to whet my curiosity. I definitely wanted to know the gory details, but Fidler could only provide so much information. He was ,after-all, telling the entire 1000 year story of Byzantium. He laid out the facts and just the facts.

This is how historians set the scene:

A prominent general, Maurice fought with success against the Sasanian Empire. After he became Emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion. Under him the Empire’s eastern border in the South Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for the first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace.

Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars – pushing them back across the Danube by 599. But he was undone by his own parsimony: he cut the rations of soldiers on the Danube and cancelled their winter leave, which left his men facing the prospect of spending several frozen months on the front, shivering in their tents. When Maurice economized further by cutting their pay, the army on the Danube mutinied and raised a centurion named Phocas onto their shields, Phocas and his rebels abandoned their posts and marched towards Constantinople.

Phocas entered the city in 602, flinging handfuls of gold to the cheering crowds in the streets. He assumed the throne and sent his soldiers to track down his predecessor. Maurice was captured and forced to watch as his children were beheaded. Than it was his turn. The headless bodies were thrown into the sea. A large crowd came down to watch the corpses bobbing around on the water.

Phocas was aware that his authority was tenuous. he could hardly claim…to be the favoured son of heaven when everyone knew he was a crude opportunist who had murdered his predecessor. Phocas tried to crush disquiet among the people and the aristocracy with a reign of terror, punishing his enemies, real or otherwise, through slow torture and execution.

This is how Richard Blake puts you in the middle of a reign of terror:

“Beyond the docks the land rose upwards. Here, I allowed myself a sight of a jumble of glittering buildings. Some of these looked quite old – at least, they were in the ancient style of the Greeks. The larger buildings were all in the modern Imperial style. I strained to see more of them, but the afternoon sun was in my eyes and it dazzled me. I also couldn’t explain the little dark projections at regular points along an inner wall.

As the oars swung suddenly upright and we coasted the last few yards into dock, I glanced up again at the inner wall. I could now see that those dark projections I hadn’t been able to make out were iron gibbets. There must have been dozens of these clustered round the Senatorial Dock. Each held a corpse in various stages of decay. The corpses looked sightlessly down at me, twisted in their death agonies, blackened by the sun. Some were naked. Others had shreds of clothing that scavengers and the shifting winds hadn’t yet torn away. Here and there, though faded, I could make out the purple border of the senatorial classes.

Martin cleared his throat, directing my attention to the open mouth and outstretched arms of the official.

‘Executed traitors,’ he whispered again with a momentary glance at the gibbets. ‘You should pretend not to notice them.’

As I stepped ashore, the official hurried forward to embrace me.

Greetings, Alaric of Britain,’ he called in a voice that might have been a woman’s but for its great power. His flabby, painted jowls shook with the force of his greeting. ‘I bid you welcome after your journey from the Old Rome to the New. Welcome, Alaric, welcome to the City of Caesar!”

Once again Blake demonstrates his great strength in bringing the world of his novels to life. Here he too paints a convincing and vibrant portrait of 7th century Constantinople which is in contrast to the decaying and decrepit city of Rome in the first novel. Through little details sprinkled throughout the story such as the description of the raucous and blood-thirsty crowds enjoying the public executions in the Hippodrome to the assassination attempt during the funeral service in the Hagia Sofia, Richard Blake makes you feel like you have been transported back in time.

Well researched and well written, The Terror of Constantinople is enjoyable to read. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in historical fiction.

Review posted on Goodreads on the 23rd August 2019

Tags: Historical Fiction, history, review