I loved this series as it made me discover Maxentius and a more human Costantine.
Even if I grew in Latin country and I had to study the battle of Ponte Milvio and blah blah, it was always a sort of us vs the bad guy Maxentius.
I'm happy because this series made me see other side of the two main characters and helped me to better understand how things worked and who were the main characters.
Costantine is usually described as the great-emperor who changed the history and all the blah blah. According to to the writer he's the perfect man or the villain who destroyed the pagan tradition.
Constantine in this series is a balanced man who suffered for his father and lived in dangerous times.
He's not a saint (even if the Orthodox call him a saint) nor an opportunist. He's a clever man who see that times are changes and, being a statesman, act accordingly.
I had fun in reading this book and had fun in reading the part of this book set in my hometown (Turin aka Augusta Taurinorum).
It was an engrossing and fascinating read, the perfect closure of an excellent historical fiction. These books are well researched and I cannot find any faults.
I would happy to read another series set after Constantine won as his family is quite colourful (Constantinian dynasty is quite variegated and interesting).
One last note: I loved Helena. She's a woman made of flesh and blood and not only the pious lady that discovered the true cross.
I strongly recommend this book and this series.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine