After the Year of the Five Emperors, the Roman Empire is still divided. Septimius Severus drives east through Cappadocia and Cilicia in pursuit of Pescennius Niger, whose retreat towards Antioch threatens to prolong the civil war. Veterans Gaius Rutilius Scaurus and Marcus Aquila, both hoping for peace after years of service, are pulled back into the struggle by Severus’s advancing army.
Scaurus returns to legionary command while Marcus, already burdened by the consequences of having killed an emperor, is used for increasingly dangerous operations against Niger’s forces. Raids and manoeuvre give way to a decisive confrontation in which one claimant must be destroyed. The novel follows the civil war from the viewpoint of soldiers who understand that victory for an emperor does not necessarily mean safety for the men who secure it.
Adrian Goldsworthy
12 books
Harry Sidebottom
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Amanda Cockrell
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Tim Hodkinson
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Steven Saylor
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