Former Classics and RS teacher Jill Hudson has just released her sixth novel.

In the past she has had four novels published by Lion Publishing, ‘Rabshakeh’, ‘Zoheleth’, ‘Hadassah’ and ‘The Last Queen of Sheba’; a fifth, ‘A Fortress Among My People’, was published by Lighthouse Publishing, USA. All of these novels were rooted in material from the Old Testament. Her new book, ‘Callistus of Rome’ is also a historical novel, but this one is set against the background of imperial Rome. It begins during the reign of the capricious emperor Commodus (familiar to many from the film ‘Gladiator’).

Here’s what you can find out about it on Amazon’s website:

The great Marcus Aurelius is dead, and the Roman Empire buckles under the yoke of Commodus his capricious son. As trust in the old gods wanes, exotic faiths compete for devotees while the evolving Christian Church is plagued by rivalries which threaten to tear it apart.

Two of Rome’s Christians face crises of their own.

Callistus, the banker’s enslaved apprentice, cheated by a client and abandoned by his closest friend, finds himself running for his life. Marcia the emperor’s concubine, fearing for her own survival as well as the Empire’s, resolves to take the law into her own hands.

Meanwhile on the Empire’s eastern frontier a princess is growing up in an ancient kingdom long since swallowed up by Rome. But she and the women of her house are destined to wield more power than even their proudest ancestors could have dreamed of.

Between them, Callistus, Marcia and Mamaea will change the history of Rome and its Church for ever.


Jill read Classics and Theology at Cambridge University and lives in Drigg with her husband Keith. She writes under the name Jill Francis Hudson and her novels have so far have been translated into eight languages. According to the Jerusalem Post 'Hudson is a first-rate story-teller. The characters come alive. The situations are real. The result is nothing less than a thriller.' 
The book is available as a paperback from Amazon, where you can also buy a Kindle edition.

(Nov 2023)