John Maddox Roberts (25 June 1947 – 23 May 2024), also writing as Mark Ramsay, was a prolific and best-selling science fiction, fantasy, historical, and mystery writer over the course of
thirty-five years. He was the author of many novels set in ancient Rome, including Hannibal’s Children and its sequel The Seven Hills, and the SPQR series, the first of which, now titled The
King’s Gambit, was an Edgar Award finalist in 1991.

Robert’s first publication was The Strayed Sheep of Charum in 1977. His early settings were built around his personal experiences growing up, then in the U.S. Army, and then traveling. He
wrote several Conan the Barbarian books and also Murder in Tarsis for Dragonlance throughout the eighties and nineties, alongside and continuing on with several book series, stand-alone
novels, and short stories through 2011, when he retired from writing at his New Mexico home.

John Maddox Roberts lived 76 years.