Swords Around the Throne

by Ian Ross Book 2 in the Twilight of Empire series.

First published 2015

Amazon

4.2(1,307)

AD 308. After the events in Britain, Aurelius Castus is drawn into Constantine’s inner circle and promoted to the Protectores, the imperial bodyguard whose swords stand close to the throne. The honour brings him into a court where advancement depends on reading loyalties as carefully as an enemy line, and where a conspiracy against Constantine turns Castus into both soldier and investigator.

At the centre of the danger is Maximian, the retired emperor and Constantine’s father-in-law, whose return to the struggle for power exposes the fragility of the Tetrarchic settlement. Fausta, Maximian’s daughter and Constantine’s wife, embodies the family ties that cross the political divide. Moving from frontier warfare to imperial intrigue and the confrontation at Massilia, the novel shows Castus learning that service near the emperor can be more dangerous than ordinary battle.