My guest today is Elizabeth Legge who writes fiction as Elyse DeBarre and travel memoirs as Elyssa Vagabunda. She is an Australian (born in Melbourne, family hometown in Tasmania) Canadian, half-English archaeologist, historian, and qualifying physician with a biology degree, currently studying medicine in Italy. She has travelled to 65 countries on every continent, and lived in 17 of them since the age of two. A lifelong researcher and storyteller, she began writing for publication at age ten.
Since last Christmas, following extensive research, she has written and published 37 historical novels and scholarly nonfiction works — most of them focused on ancient Rome — including several historical novels currently available for preorder. Her work blends forensic research, lived experience, and a deep understanding of ancient societies, shaped by her academic background in archaeology, biology, history, and medicine.
You can connect with Elyse via Facebook, Amazon and AllAuthor where you can find her extensive array of novels.
What or who inspired you to first write? Which authors have influenced you?
I began storytelling at around age two, before I could even write, with my mother — herself a writer and journalist — typing my dictated tales. By eight I was staging plays for neighbours, and at ten I published an environmental article in the Launceston Times (Tasmania) and the nature poem based on my travels, Grandeur, in the Royal Ontario Museum’s journal. At nineteen I started my debut Roman novel The Tower of Malatha, researched at UBC and the Vancouver Public Library, now held in Vancouver and Surrey libraries.
Years of research for that series became my 750‑page Pisa Master’s thesis on Agrippa I and the Julio‑Claudians, a forensic study that integrated true‑crime methods; it was published as a book, with the defence released in podcast form as an ebook. I fell in love with Rome at twelve and first saw it at thirteen — a moment that set me on the path of Roman archaeology. That passion has never left me, and today I live and work in Rome.
My main Roman epic series, Roman Prince of Palaestina, was inspired by a subplot in Robert Graves’ Claudius the God, which my mother gave me as a teenager. From that seed I developed my own theories and built an entire quadrilogy. Other influences include Paul Maier (The Flames of Rome, Pontius Pilate), Michelle Moran (Cleopatra’s Daughter), Taylor Caldwell, Frank Slaughter (who blended medicine and history), and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, which shaped the gothic elements in my fiction. Films like The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, and Gladiator also inspired me, both as a Roman archaeologist and as a novelist.
What is the inspiration for your current book?
My most recently published epic, Rise of the Magi: Babylon Under Watch, is the second instalment in my Priests and Magi quadrilogy — a historical espionage series set during the reign of Cyrus the Great in the late 6th century BCE. Although the series title suggests mysticism, its tone is political and psychological, exploring espionage, betrayal, and shifting identities.
The inspiration came from a character loosely inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, reimagined with greater nuance. Her arc intertwines with that of a Babylonian freedom fighter and a Greek informer sent by Cyrus, whose enemies‑to‑lovers dynamic unfolds against the siege and aftermath of Babylon. Subplots converge into a layered mystery with gothic elements and a final twist.
As a Roman archaeologist, I was drawn to the fall of Babylon, especially Nabonidus — the last Babylonian king and first known archaeologist — and his daughter Ennigaldi, the first woman archaeologist and museum curator. Much of what we know comes from Cyrus’ propaganda, but some Greek sources and the archaeology reveal a more complex story. I wanted to show both perspectives: the Greek diplomatic team and the Babylonian resistance.
The novel also contrasts with The Spy of Delphi, which reimagines the biblical Levite’s concubine, and connects with companion works like The Levite’s Concubine: The Silent Scream and The Etruscan Princess: The Covert Crown. Together they explore how ancient histories often silenced women’s voices. My broader training in archaeology, medicine, and criminology informs the psychological depth of my characters.
What period of history particularly inspires or interests you?
Ancient Rome has captivated me since childhood. I fell in love with it at twelve from watching Ben Hur for the first time and reading historical novels, then conducting serious historical research on Rome, and first saw it at thirteen — an experience that shaped my path as a Roman archaeologist. In fact, I’d decided to be classical (Roman) archaeologist at the age of twelve when I first saw Ben Hur, but an archaeologist from the age of eight. I admire Rome’s rise from huts on the Palatine Hill to a pragmatic empire that integrated diverse peoples and advanced law, engineering, military strategy, medicine, and science. Its contradictions — earlier brutality during its rise, alongside innovation — make it impressive and inexhaustible.
As both archaeologist, biologist and qualifying physician, and author, I read ancient texts critically, treating them as political artefacts as much as narratives. Their biases reveal the climates that produced them, and that critical lens informs both my scholarship and my fiction. I also have published an extensive collection of scholarly nonfiction, mostly on ancient Rome. My brand is RomaAquila.
What resources do you use to research your book?
I complete epics in about six months, shorter novels in weeks, having already researched for them for years while completing several university degrees in the underlying fields. My research is immersive: living and working across the Middle East and Mediterranean (Oman, UAE, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Italy; travels through Egypt, Iran, Qatar), site visits, museums, and archaeological practice. I have lived in 17 countries across four continents and travelled to 65 on every continent, beginning global-wide journeys with my mother from the age of two. That lived experience makes me a global citizen and informs how I portray ancient societies and some of my main characters, who often also fit into diverse cultures.
I rely on peer‑reviewed sources, major university repositories, project reports (e.g., BAAL rescue project in Lebanon), and consultations with experts such as my former professor, Anthony Barrett, and Nikos Kokkinos. My physician training lets me weave knowledge of ancient medicine into plots, and true‑crime investigation methods from my Pisa thesis (also published as one of my books) inform my Roman series. Many of my protagonists are physicians, which allows me to explore the intersections of medicine, ethics, and power in antiquity.
What do you do if stuck for a word or phrase?
I use a thesaurus or consult academic texts and ancient sources to match tone and register.
Is there anything unusual or quirky about your writing?
Since childhood, I have visualised novels as films complete with soundtracks, and I often write at ancient sites or while travelling or on the Rome metro, ferries and other public transport. The Spy of Delphi grew from a poetic prose short story I wrote for university at seventeen when beginning my first classical archaeology degree. Some antagonists, particularly my favourite one in Priests and Magi, began with real models but evolved beyond them; in Rise of the Magi, a central figure echoes Rebecca in du Maurier’s thriller but became more nuanced and complex. Many protagonists are physicians, reflecting my own training and interest in ancient medicine. And a few of them are archaeologists, including the first two archaeologists, father and daughter, in ancient Babylon.
Do you use a program like Scrivener?
I originally wrote the early practice drafts for The Tower of Malatha in longhand, and later in a combination of longhand and typed format on my laptop. I don’t use any special writing programs — I’m accustomed to writing scholarly treatises and university theses, so I follow the same workflow I’ve used for academic publication. I begin in Google Docs, then transfer the manuscript to Word on my computer, and also back it up to Cloud.
Although I don’t write fan fiction, I also copy my work behind a high paywall for protection into Novelo, which helps reinforce copyright clarity.
I don’t rely on writing software to track or recall plot points — my memory is quite strong, and I’m highly organised, likely due to years of writing academic papers and publications.
Is there a photo or artwork that inspires you?
Sites like Delphi, the Palatine Hill, and Mycenae’s Lion Gate transport me to ancient times — touchstones since childhood travels with my mother and continuing to the present. Living in this part of the world among so many ancient sites is very inspiring. I began writing The Spy of Delphi on the slopes of the Athens Acropolis. I also love The Ten Commandments (1950s), whose research and soundtrack shaped my imagination. There are some Neoclassical paintings that also have transported me to ancient times when studying them for university. And I once was so inspired in my Etruscology class at Roma Tre University in Rome by a sculpture of a good-looking Etruscan man from his sarcophagus lid that I created a story with him as a protagonist which I’ll be writing later.
What advice would you give an aspiring author?
Writing a novel isn’t as overwhelming as many imagine. Once you begin, something clicks — at least it did for me — and soon I was writing several more. The key is to push yourself until the story takes hold and you’re immersed alongside your characters. From there, the process flows naturally.
For historical fiction, thorough research is essential, but you can’t write like a textbook. Know far more than you’ll include, and let the background emerge through dialogue, character interactions, or events. Characters must feel like real people, with complexities and grey areas, so I step into their minds much like an actor. I also stress not to take ancient sources at face value: they were written in context, often with exaggeration or propaganda, so read critically and weigh diverse scholarly opinions.
Most importantly, don’t wait until research is finished — write and research concurrently. Everyone makes mistakes, and no book is perfect. Some of my favourite historical novels and films are full of errors I notice as an archaeologist, but if the story is strong, I love them anyway. So don’t doubt yourself. Just write, and don’t delete what you’ve written. I used to rewrite chapters endlessly, only to find them nearly identical. Eventually I decided to finish the book — and it worked. The Vancouver Public Library accepted it immediately, along with my parallel historical novel and the poetic prose I’d written at seventeen.
Tell us about your next book.
I’m currently preparing to publish a new standalone novel titled Through the Roman Gate, which takes place during the Julio‑Claudian era, in the time of Tiberius. It blends time‑slip, espionage, mystery, gothic atmosphere, psychological horror, and romance. It’s independent from my other series but shares thematic and historical connections with them. Like all my novels, it contains twists — some more layered than others — and I enjoy writing puzzles for readers to unravel. I’m also deeply interested in criminology, which often finds its way into my plots. While I enjoy writing dark mysteries, my novels always end on a positive note for the main characters. I don’t believe in being so “realistic” that it distorts reality or exaggerates reality — I aim to be uplifting, even when navigating heavy or complex terrain.
Through the Roman Gate will be published very soon, ahead of my next series’ instalments. I’m aiming for the end of December but it will probably be much sooner as is typical for me. It’s part of a broader body of work that includes several interlinked series.
I’m also releasing Between the Spear and the Flame: A Tale of the Final Spartan Revolt, a semi‑myth‑infused epic about a Helot girl with divine Bronze Age blood, a rebel brother, and a forbidden bond with a Spartan boy she once saved.
My central Roman‑era quadrilogy is titled Roman Prince of Palaestina. Following on from The Tower of Malatha, is the upcoming Destiny’s Tide: From Exile to Empire — set in early first‑century Rome, it follows Roman protagonists from the extended Julio‑Claudian family. The main male character is a little‑known historical hero whose identity is revealed through the series. The novel blends romance, political mystery, espionage, and murder investigation. In this instalment, he returns from exile, as he did historically, to rise to a high place of power in Rome and the Empire.
I’ve also written The Inheritance — set in 1946 British Mandate Palestine, it follows a Palestinian freedom fighter and serves as a counter‑narrative to Leon Uris’ Exodus. Though it’s actually Book 5 in the series, it was published early due to its standalone arc. It is the only novel in the series with a modern setting; the rest are set in ancient Rome.
I also have a third series, The Chronicles of Livius, which is a sequence of action thrillers with espionage elements based on semi‑historical accounts written by Livy (Livius), the Roman historian writing under Augustus. Following on from The Etruscan Princess: The Covert Crown, is the upcoming In the Shadows of the Tiber: A Tale of Intrigue in Ancient Rome — set a couple of centuries later, still during the Roman Republic. It has subtle connections to Book 1 that readers will discover as the series unfolds. It involves a Greek political cult using religious trappings which infiltrated the Roman aristocracy and tried to defeat Rome from within, and the Roman military’s investigation into and eventual overthrowing of the conspiracy.
All my soon to be released books are available on preorder at a major discount across various platforms which you can find on AllAuthor.
All of my novels involve twists, layered mysteries, and forensic attention to historical accuracy — but I never take ancient sources at face value. I read them critically, alongside diverse scholarly interpretations, and develop my own arguments. I enjoy writing stories that challenge assumptions, explore political and psychological terrain, and offer readers both intellectual engagement and emotional resonance.
From the ashes of Babylon… a new star awakens.
Those who know the game… rewrite the rules.
A psychologically rich historical novel with gothic undertones—where power, myth, and memory collide in the shadowed halls of ancient Babylon.
Book 2 of the Priests and Magi quadrilogy.
Shadows stir, and old enemies resurface.
As Cyrus the Great wages war against Babylon, the mastermind behind the Median Magus cabal has returned — more formidable than before.
This is the second book in a complex espionage mystery series with multiple twists set during the reign of Cyrus the Great — delving deep into the intrigue, danger, and romance of the ancient world.
As Babylon’s once-mighty empire stands on the brink of collapse, Thalia — a young physician trained in Persia and Ephesos — joins her betrothed, the Greek satrap Kratos, on a diplomatic mission. But when forgotten memories resurface, she begins once again to question the loyalties that had long seemed so clear. Caught in the shadows of political intrigue and espionage, Thalia must decide where her allegiance truly lies in a world where good and evil blur together.
Amid assassinations, shifting alliances, and dangerous secrets, a clean yet fiery enemies-to-lovers subplot unfolds between a conflicted warrior and a reluctant heroine rival on opposing sides of the conflict. Their relationship simmers beneath the surface, adding passion and complexity to the tale’s atmosphere without overshadowing its heart-pounding twists.
As war looms and Cyrus the Great’s forces gather on Babylon’s horizon, Thalia must navigate a web of hidden motives and moral uncertainty to uncover the truth—not only about the world around her but about herself.
As mentioned, all of Elyse’s books (both published and on presale) can be accessed on AllAuthor where you can choose your preferred sales platform. Her published books are also available on Amazon including Rise of the Magi: Babylon Under Watch.
Thank you, Elyse! It’s wonderful to meet a fellow Romaphile who is bringing the ancient world to life so vividly, especially Rome and the Etruscans. The Wedding Shroud, my debut novel, was also inspired by an Etruscan sarcophagus.
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