The Noise of War

The Noise of War follows Quintus Sertorius after the disaster at Arausio, where Roman command failure leaves him carrying the trauma of survival. His next task takes him into enemy territory disguised among the peoples threatening Rome, turning the aftermath of defeat into a test of endurance, intelligence and divided identity.

The novel is closely tied to the Cimbrian War and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. It uses one of Rome’s most frightening defeats to show why Marius gained extraordinary authority and why soldiers such as Sertorius came to understand that Rome’s greatest danger could come from incompetent commanders as much as from foreign armies.