Santiago Posteguillo

Planeta Prize 2018

An historical novel based on the life of Julia Domna, one of the most relevant, fascinating, and unknown female characters in the history of Rome.

Wife and mother of emperors, Julia Domna (170-217), of Syrian origin, was an outsider who captivated all of Rome with her intelligence and beauty. In her struggle to protect her family and husband, Governor Septimius Severus (who she shrewdly turned into an emperor), Julia faced turbulent times. She lived in an era of political and economic instability, marked by a succession of five emperors in scarcely five years, including the cruel and unpredictable Emperor Commodus. Meanwhile, the great empire was threatened by a civil war capable of undermining its very foundations.

“We assume that historian Mary Beard will be delighted with this novel as soon as she reads it. The author of SPQR includes Julia Domna among the ten most interesting personalities of the Roman world, and Posteguillo has now given her an indisputable aura.” Culturas, La Vanguardia

“Posteguillo is always a guarantee of certainty and respect for whatever he decides to take into literature.” La Razón

“Historical novels can be so thrilling, and Posteguillo displays such courage delivering such a feast of antiquity.” El País