Sword of Empire

Sword of Empire follows the praetorians Gaius Maximus and Rufus Atticus during the Marcomannic Wars and the final years of Marcus Aurelius. Missions on the Danube frontier, conspiracy in Rome and a final assassination order expose the dependence of imperial strategy on officers who must act beyond ordinary military command.

The series contrasts Aurelius’s attempt to preserve a disciplined and negotiated empire with the instability surrounding Commodus. Maximus and Atticus are loyal to the emperor but not always to the officials, family members and political interests speaking in his name. The three primary novellas are restored here alongside, but distinct from, the existing Complete Campaigns omnibus.