Jennifer
A cover, and a preorder link!
In super exciting news, Sub Rosa is now available to preorder. It's already up on Amazon, and should be listed at other retailers in the...
top of page
JENNIFER BURKE BOOKS
The Blog
For updates on the Valerius Mysteries, and the latest news from Ancient Rome, please subscribe to the blog.
Jennifer
- Sep 15
- 3 min
Nero: The Bad Guy (but just not yet)
Part of the fun about writing historical novels is that you get to use real people. And part of the fun about writing historical novels...
8 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Aug 18
- 3 min
Welcome to the Forum
At the centre of every book set in Ancient Rome is the Forum. There are some fantastic YouTube videos out there, like this one, where you...
11 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Jul 21
- 2 min
Welcome home, Valerius
I've talked a lot before about how on one hand we all know that the past is a different country and one that is incredibly foreign to us...
20 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Jul 7
- 2 min
The Wheel, or the Three Pebbles
If you wander the ruins of the forum of Leptis Magna, in modern day Libya, you can see this carved into the footpath: This is the Ancient...
15 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Jun 23
- 2 min
A Roman rubbish dump
If you go to Rome, you might notice Monte Testaccio, a green hill in the middle of the sprawling city. But what you might not know, is...
8 views0 comments
Jennifer
- May 26
- 2 min
Ancient Roman brothel tokens
The fun thing about history is the amount of stuff that doesn’t get recorded. Like, it’s so common that nobody writes it down, because...
26 views0 comments
Jennifer
- May 12
- 2 min
How to brighten your (Ancient Roman) smile!
Since I'm at the dentist today, for a routine checkup and clean, I thought it'd be fun to do a post about Ancient Roman dentistry. For...
13 views1 comment
Jennifer
- Apr 29
- 2 min
Sol Omnibus Lucet
My apologies for a short post this fortnight! My alter ego is back from two back-to-back book signings in Sydney and Melbourne, and my...
18 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Apr 14
- 6 min
Sub Rosa - an unedited excerpt
This fortnight, instead of doing a shallow dive into Roman history, I thought I'd actually post the opening of Sub Rosa. I really do have...
35 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Apr 1
- 2 min
I made eggs!
I have tried the garum! I picked the easiest recipe I could find, which in this case was Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut sauce, and gave it...
19 views4 comments
Jennifer
- Mar 18
- 3 min
Roman sexuality
It’s a running theme in my blog posts that the Ancient Romans were pretty much like we were, just in funny clothes and sandals. But when...
23 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Mar 9
- 2 min
Fast food in Ancient Rome
Sometimes, when we look at an ancient culture, so much of it seems so totally foreign to us that it can be difficult to see that we have...
21 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Feb 3
- 2 min
Here fishy, fishy (sauce)
If you've ever dug around in any Ancient Roman recipes, one thing that you'll see listed over and over again is garum, or liquamen. These...
18 views4 comments
Jennifer
- Jan 20
- 2 min
Where do Roman roads lead, exactly?
We’ve all heard the saying that all roads lead to Rome, but do you know where exactly in Rome they led to? The Milliarium Aureum, the...
12 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Jan 6
- 2 min
Here's looking at you, Janus.
Have you ever wondered how the Ancient Romans celebrated New Year? Well, they initially celebrated it on March 1, until they smartened up...
19 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Dec 23, 2022
- 2 min
Happy Saturnalia!
Or, as the Romans would say, “Io, Saturnalia!” Saturnalia is the holiday celebrated from December 17 – 23, in honour of the god Saturn,...
12 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Dec 9, 2022
- 2 min
How did we lose the Lupercal? And did anyone look behind the couch?
One of the most fascinating things to me about any ancient city like Rome is that things are lost over time, and then sometimes even...
28 views2 comments
Jennifer
- Nov 25, 2022
- 2 min
The Gods of Childbirth
Childbirth in ancient Rome is a hazardous undertaking. To safeguard the delivery of a baby, there are at least thirty different gods you...
11 views0 comments
Jennifer
- Nov 11, 2022
- 2 min
Catallus 16 - The Latin they don't teach you in school (NSFW)
There is a common misconception that the Ancient Romans patricians were a moralistic, dull bunch of blokes who spent their lives orating...
24 views0 comments
bottom of page