Debra May Macleod

Debra May Macleod is the author of seven (and counting) historical fiction novels set in Ancient Rome and featuring the esteemed order of Vestal Virgins, guardians of Rome's Eternal Flame. Her novels chronicle the Vestal Order's history over a thousand-plus year period.

Her trilogy The First Vestals of Rome is set in the 8th century BCE and dramatizes the legendary lives of the founding Vestal Virgins (Rhea Silvia, Tarpeia, Amata) of Ancient Rome.

Her trilogy The Vesta Shadows* takes place from 45 BCE to 14 CE and follows the thrilling life of the Vestal priestess Pomponia Occia as she navigates the treacherous years that saw the fall of the Republic and the rise of the great Roman Empire, and beyond. (*Look for the Revised Edition of The Vesta Shadows, now available in select territories!)

And finally her epic novel Coelia Concordia: The Last Vestal Virgin of Rome dramatizes the extinguishment of the great Vestal Order... and the Fall of Rome itself.

Debra has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Classics, and a Juris Doctor. She has participated in research excursions in the Roman fora, and informs her writing with this invaluable, meaningful perspective. Her passion project and author site - All Things Vesta - contains a wealth of fascinating information on ancient Rome, Vesta and the remarkable Vestal Virgins, everything from ancient history and mythology to Vesta "today" and the internet's largest visual gallery of Vestal-related art.