I am more than a little surprised that this book didn't receive a better overall rating. While I think that Simon Scarrow's series is more fun (without taking away from the drama) this book may be more complete; the characters (Briton as well as Roman) , the historical settings, perspectives (aga...
He was looking at an army of ghosts.‘Esus save us,’ he whispered. His eyes told him he was seeing what he was seeing, but the impossibility of it overwhelmed his mind and the thin fabric of his sanity threatened to tear apart inside his head. Every instinct told him to run. To get away from this ...
A groom held the reins to steady her noble head and Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, proconsul of the east and governor of Syria, stood by her shining flank. The sword that hung from the four-pommelled cavalry saddle was the ceremonial blade Valerius had pulled from Corbulo’s wall, but it had been modifi...
How could that be in so short a time? Murals he had always regarded as artistic and exotic now appeared merely vulgar and lewd. In the harsh light of day the wall hangings and the furniture seemed tired and worn. The scents which had once made his senses reel were no longer sweet, but cloying, an...
Was it too much to ask? After all, he was the leader of the most powerful Empire the world had ever known. He looked over the throng of appellants gathered at the far end of the room. Did they realize how difficult it was?His surveyors were at work planning the canal across the Ionian isthmus whi...
She was glad her father insisted she bathe after the uproar of her return. She’d been overwhelmed by the tearful welcome from the servants, and his veiled hints about any ill treatment she might have suffered. The bath gave her time to think. The slave girl’s hands were smooth and expert as they ...
Valerius joined Lepidus and his staff as they spurred their way to a height east of the city where the Tenth would construct their encampment. When they reached the summit they walked their horses through a tangle of ancient olive groves. ‘Venus’ withered tits, have you ever seen anything like th...
‘Send in the fifth century to support the attack.’ Valerius watched from a raised earth platform as the eighty men of the fifth century of the Third cohort trotted towards the fiendish combination of ditches, palisades and blind entries the defenders of Cremona had created to confound any assault...
Only the Nubian’s great height allowed him to keep the Spaniard in sight till he caught up. Otho remained fifty paces ahead with Onomastus and two of his lictors as they passed the House of the Vestals and the Regia. ‘If we end up in the open, drop back,’ the gladiator muttered from the side of h...