Emperor’s Sword

by Alex Gough Book 1 in the Imperial Assassin series.

First published 2019

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4.4(3,191)

Caledonia, AD 208. Silus serves as a Roman scout during Septimius Severus’s northern campaign, where forests, marshes and mobile enemies make conventional formations unreliable. A reconnaissance mission ends in disaster and draws him to the attention of Marcus Oclatinius Adventus, who recruits him into the Arcani intelligence service.

Silus returns beyond Hadrian’s Wall on a mission in which military information, tribal alliances and rivalry inside the imperial family are equally dangerous. The novel establishes the Arcani as agents working between army and court while Severus attempts to impose Roman power on northern Britain.