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Mask of Romulus
Mask of Romulus follows a sweeping story that stretches from Rome to India and ties together power, ambition, prophecy, and the fragile nature of empire. The book opens by painting a world connected by trade and restless ideas. It introduces Augustus at the height of his influence and an India fractured by competing kingdoms. Into this tense landscape steps Kamala, an oracle whose visions push her toward a journey that crosses four thousand miles and collides with the political storms of the Roman world. The novel layers real history with imagined personal struggles, giving the reader a sense that huge movements of empire hinge on private choices, secrets, and fate.
As I moved through the early chapters, I felt pulled in by how personal the book tries to make epic history. The scenes from Octavius’ childhood surprised me. They feel raw and grounded, almost gritty at times, and they made him more human than the distant marble figure we tend to imagine. The writing jumps between action and reflection, sometimes with sharp contrast, and that rhythm kept me alert. The prose feels almost cinematic, especially the storm at sea and the tension around Caesar’s final days. The book has a clear emotional heartbeat. It cares about loneliness, loyalty, power, and the cost of ambition. Those themes.
What really stuck with me was how confidently the author shifts between worlds. Rome feels vivid with its politics, temples, mentors, conflicts, and restless ambition. India feels just as alive in its spiritual tension and shifting kingdom lines. Even though the story reaches far beyond any one character, the author still gives each major figure enough emotion and doubt to make their choices feel real. I especially appreciated how the book doesn’t treat history like a static backdrop. It treats it as something alive and dangerous. The writing style itself is clean but emotional. Sometimes the dialogue leans formal, but I never felt pushed out of the story. Instead, it gave me the sense that these people carried the weight of their worlds in every sentence.
I feel like Mask of Romulus is a great fit for readers who love historical fiction but want more than dates and battles. It’s for people who like character-driven stories, who enjoy seeing famous figures stripped of their myth and shown as vulnerable, ambitious, or afraid. It’s also perfect for anyone who enjoys ancient-world political drama or a good cross-cultural adventure. I’d recommend it to readers who want something immersive, thoughtful, and full of heart.
Pages: 300 | ASIN : B0G26Z32D4
The Hidden, Untold Story
Mask of Romulus follows an oracle whose visions lead her into the midst of the politics of two powerful civilizations. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The impetus to bring India and Rome together started with news of an archeological find in Pompeii. The report chronicled how a statue of Lakshmi was found in the ashes. I was not aware of the cross-pollination between these societies. I started to do some research, which led to Suetonius documenting how an embassy from India reached Augustus vacationing on the island of Samos in 21 B.C. I could not resist asking myself, who were these travelers from India, what was their mission or what did they hope to achieve? What were their lives before and after? How was Augustus impacted? Who was he before and after? The creative license to answer these questions inspired me to weave a narrative between the known facts and create the hidden, untold story of this pivotal woman, Kamala.
What intrigues you about this time period enough to write such a epic period piece?
I have ancestral ties to the Italian, Dalmatia and Balkan regions. I suppose that explains part of the passion. The discovery of that statue certainly sparked my interest and intrigue. The mysteries and missing bits in the chronicles of time that experts have spent their entire careers attempting to discover or explain only added to my creative fervor. There was something there to be told, my heart said. However, while it is fascinating to consider the absolute vastness of all things Roman Empire, that fascination is shared by so many authors that in my mind I was also intimidated to even try.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
As I was doing my research, it occurred to me I could potentially differentiate my telling of the age of Augustus from other works covering this period by not creating a biography of Augustus, following his many feats and political maneuvers, but rather highlight specific ones as landmarks on his journey as a man. How worried was he about his legacy, what insecurities, what frustrations did he feel? The same holds for Kamala, the oracle from India. What a terrifying journey! Would her Buddhist faith be a calming influence? How would her religious and spiritual practices be challenged or accepted by Roman society? Someone owned a statue of the Goddess Lakshmi in Pompeii, so part of her faith most also be accepted in Roman culture of that time. Exploring these questions was more interesting to me as a writer than having an emphasis on one specific event or specific people, whether exploring the dire love of Marc Antony, Cleopatra, or the acts of bravery and stoicism during a specific battle or revolt. I wanted to delve into the psyche and emotions of the characters, to unpack their fears and ambitions, their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, the main themes of destiny, fate, personal philosophies and the role of spirituality are intended to fill each page with meaning, insight, and perhaps wisdom we can use for ourselves in our lives now.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next book is centered on the 1921 assassination of the first elected president of the post-WW I newly formed Poland, the man who did it, and the Polish diplomat working as a double agent for the Russians that groomed the assassin into carrying it out. The book will be telling the story of the double agent, exploring his life and motivations through the lenses of societal shifts, family drama, political ambitions, conspiracy theories, and a missing Fabergé egg. It will be another sweeping saga, spanning the century 1850 – 1950. I am targeting late 2027 for that release.
I am also working on a graphic novel adaptation of my first book, The Road to Moresco. I hope to have that available in 2026.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Website
Mask of Romulus
Mask of Romulus, by Mark Jamilkowski, is a sweeping historical novel that bridges the grandeur of Rome with the mysticism of ancient India. The story begins with the rise of Augustus and stretches across continents, weaving Roman ambition with Eastern spirituality. It follows Kamala, a visionary oracle from Ujjain, whose divine insight leads her into the political currents of two powerful civilizations. The book paints vivid portraits of Julius Caesar, Augustus, and their world, while revealing an unexpected connection between these empires through diplomacy, faith, and human yearning. It’s a dense and cinematic journey that turns history into living, breathing drama.
Reading this book felt like walking through marble halls and dusty roads at the same time. The writing is lush, descriptive, and deliberate, but also deeply emotional. I admired the author’s attention to historical detail, yet I found myself pulled in even more by the human side of it all. The conversations between Caius and Marcus, the moments of fear and defiance, had a strange intimacy that stuck with me. It’s not an easy read, sometimes the prose is heavy, and I felt the pacing is a bit slow, but it feels earned. Every page builds toward something larger, like watching a fresco take form stroke by stroke.
What I enjoyed most, though, was the way Jamilkowski handled belief and destiny. The Roman hunger for order meets the Indian hunger for meaning, and somewhere between them, you feel the question that still haunts us: what does it mean to be guided by fate? The author writes with both reverence and rebellion. At times, the dialogue feels ancient and formal, and at other times, raw and modern. I caught myself pausing, rereading sentences not because I had to, but because I wanted to. They hit somewhere deep, stirring something old and familiar. There’s real heart here. It’s not just history, it’s longing dressed in Latin and Sanskrit.
I’d recommend Mask of Romulus to readers who love sweeping historical epics and who don’t mind getting lost in layered storytelling. It’s for those who like The Eagle of the Ninth or The Palace of Illusions and wish someone had tied them together. It is more than a worthwhile read that rewards patience, curiosity, and empathy.
Pages: 342 | ISBN : 978-1959127482
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