Crete, AD 48. An earthquake wrecks the island’s towns and leaves Macro and Cato stranded among collapsing authority and shortages. The destruction allows enslaved people led by the former gladiator Ajax to revolt against Roman owners and officials. Taking command of the surviving garrison, the officers must protect civilians and restore communications while confronting a rebellion driven by genuine brutality as well as revenge.
The revolt exposes contradictions at the heart of Roman rule. Macro and Cato must defend civilians and restore order, but the enslaved rebels have genuine reasons to hate the society being rebuilt around them. Ajax uses the disaster to create an army from people who had possessed almost no legal power, turning a natural catastrophe into a political challenge to the island’s elite.
Bernard Cornwell
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Robert Fabbri
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M.C. Scott
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K. M. Ashman
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Griff Hosker
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