0.5. Eagles in the Desert
In 360 CE, a Roman force campaigning against the Sasanian Empire is cut off and surrounded in the Persian desert. Far from reinforcement and short of water, the legionaries must maintain discipline while enemy troops and the landscape steadily reduce their chances of escape. The prequel…
1. Legionary
In 376 CE, the Huns drive Gothic peoples toward the Danube and the Eastern Roman Empire struggles to reinforce its neglected frontier. Pavo, enslaved after the death of his legionary father, is forced into the XI Claudia just as the unit is ordered toward the lost…
2. Viper of the North
In the winter of 376 CE, Emperor Valens has removed much of the field army from the Danube to confront Persia. Pavo and the XI Claudia are left among the understrength frontier troops ordered to avoid provoking the increasingly desperate Goths north of the river. Rumours…
3. Land of the Sacred Fire
In 377 CE, Valens has concentrated his forces against the Goths, leaving Rome’s eastern provinces exposed to Shapur II and the Sasanian Empire. Pavo and a selected group from the XI Claudia are sent across the frontier on a covert mission intended to prevent a second…
4. The Scourge of Thracia
In 377 CE, the Roman army in Thrace has been battered and the Goths press toward the Haemus passes. The surviving units must hold the mountain routes until Valens and Gratian can assemble field armies strong enough to relieve them. Pavo and the XI Claudia return…
5. Gods & Emperors
In 378 CE, Fritigern’s Goths dominate much of Thrace while the remaining Roman forces wait for the armies of Valens and Gratian. Pavo prepares for the expected decisive campaign but receives no word from senior officers sent to the western court. As the emperors and their…
6. Empire of Shades
In 379 CE, the Eastern Roman Empire is reeling from the defeat at Adrianople. Valens is dead, the throne is vacant and Pavo, now commanding the XI Claudia, tries to preserve one of the few organised forces left in a devastated Thrace. The appointment of Theodosius…
7. The Blood Road
In 381 CE, the Gothic War has entered its fifth year. The Goths control much of the countryside but cannot capture the remaining imperial cities, and the arrival of Gratian’s western army appears capable of changing the balance. Pavo and the XI Claudia know that Gratian…
8. Dark Eagle
In the winter of 382 CE, Rome and the Goths celebrate a peace settlement that officially ends the war. Pavo instead lives in exile, convinced that Gratian manipulated the conflict and caused the deaths of soldiers and civilians whose suffering has been concealed by imperial ceremony.…
9. The Emperor’s Shield
In 386 CE, the Eastern Roman Empire faces renewed Gothic tension, conflict with Persia and the continuing threat posed by Magnus Maximus in the West. Pavo has withdrawn to a farm in Thrace, hoping that life with his wife and son has finally ended his service.…
10. Devotio
In 391 CE, the empire remains damaged by civil war and rumours spread that its absent emperor has lost control. Gothic revolt and religious violence intensify while the architects of the previous conflict prepare to exploit the disorder. Pavo works aboard a merchant vessel and plans…