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Series
The Empire series follows Marcus Valerius Aquila, a Roman aristocrat forced into hiding after his family is destroyed under Commodus. Serving under an assumed name with the Tungrian auxiliaries, he moves from Hadrian’s Wall and the Rhine to Rome, Egypt and the eastern civil wars that follow the murder of Pertinax.
Reading order
Britannia, AD 182. Marcus Valerius Aquila arrives on Hadrian’s Wall under a false name after the Praetorian Guard destroys his family in Rome. The safest place for him is among soldiers who know him only as an officer of the Tungrian auxiliaries. The northern frontier is…
Northern Britannia, AD 182. The Tungrians have survived one battle but now face the wider consequences of frontier war. Marcus Valerius Aquila continues to hide inside the army while the province prepares for renewed attacks from tribes north of the wall. The regiment must hold discipline…
Britannia after the defeat of the northern tribal alliance. The Tungrian auxiliaries expect their campaign to end, but vengeance and unfinished rebellion continue beyond the Roman frontier. Marcus Valerius Aquila remains both a soldier of the empire and a fugitive from it. The hunt for surviving…
Britannia and the Rhine frontier in the aftermath of the northern war. Marcus Valerius Aquila and the Tungrians are moved away from the province that has sheltered him and into another zone where Rome depends on auxiliaries, informers and negotiated force. The transfer promises a new…
Germania during Commodus’s reign. After recent fighting beyond the frontier, Marcus Valerius Aquila and the Tungrians are given a mission involving gold, tribal alliances and a landscape where Roman power is strongest only where its soldiers can reach. The assignment takes the regiment into country where…
The Danube frontier under Commodus. Marcus Valerius Aquila and his comrades are sent against a fortified enemy position whose strength lies in terrain, preparation and the knowledge that Roman commanders cannot afford public failure. The mission becomes a test of endurance and loyalty as old enemies…
Rome under Commodus. Marcus Valerius Aquila returns to the city where his family was destroyed and where the emperor’s agents still control the consequences of that purge. The capital is more dangerous to him than any frontier. The hunt for the men responsible takes Marcus into…
The eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Marcus Valerius Aquila rejoins the Tungrians as Rome’s conflict with Parthian power draws the regiment away from the familiar Rhine and British frontiers into a different military world. Campaigning in the East tests the regiment against heat, distance and…
The Rhine frontier. The Tungrians are ordered across the river into Germania to seize a priestess believed to hold dangerous influence over Rome’s enemies. What begins as an abduction mission becomes a fight for survival inside a hostile landscape. Marcus Valerius Aquila and his comrades face…
Gaul during the final years of Commodus’s reign. Marcus Valerius Aquila and the Tungrians are sent to deal with an outlaw whose violence threatens Roman authority and provincial order. The mission appears straightforward only to men who do not know the politics behind it. The pursuit…
Roman Egypt under Commodus. Marcus and Scaurus are sent to Alexandria after the garrison at a remote southern outpost is destroyed and the Red Sea trade route is threatened. The mission takes them from the wealthy capital of Aegyptus towards the frontier with Kush. The investigation…
Rome at the end of Commodus’s reign. Marcus Valerius Aquila and his protectors return from hiding as powerful senators begin to consider open action against the emperor. The city is filled with conspiracy, informers and men preparing for the consequences of regicide. Marcus sees a chance…
The Roman Empire, AD 193. Pertinax has been murdered, Didius Julianus has bought the throne, and rival commanders are claiming the purple. Marcus Valerius Aquila and Scaurus escape Rome and enter the service of Septimius Severus. Their new allegiance takes them towards the eastern armies of…
The eastern provinces during Severus’s war against Pescennius Niger. Marcus Aquila and Rutilius Scaurus are ordered to find and break an intelligence network operating in territory towards which Severus’s armies are advancing. The mission places them between espionage and open battle. Success may help decide whether…
Once more the Roman Empire has been torn apart by a war of imperial succession.Following the Year of the Five Emperors, three are left in the field. A final bloody confrontation between two of them is inevitable as the ruthless Septimius Severus advances through Cappadocia and…
Cappadocia and Cilicia, AD 194. After the Year of the Five Emperors has narrowed the field, Septimius Severus advances against Pescennius Niger’s retreating eastern army. Marcus Aquila and Scaurus are drawn into the final stage of the campaign. Two rival claims to imperial power must be…