The Dacian kingdom and Rome are at peace, but no one thinks that it will last. Sent to command an isolated fort beyond the Danube, centurion Flavius Ferox can sense that war is coming but also knows that enemies may be closer to home. Many of the Brigantes under his command are former rebels and convicts, as likely to kill him as obey an order. And then there is Hadrian, the emperor's cousin, and a man with plans of his own.
Centurion - Simon Scarrow
While centurions Macro and Cato are returning to Rome from a harrowing campaign against the Parthians, their transport ship is almost capsized by a tidal wave. They barely make it to the port of Matala in Crete where they are stunned to find a devastated town. An earthquake has struck the island, destroying its cities and killing thousands. In the chaotic aftermath, large bands of the island's slaves begin to revolt and local bandits, taking advantage of the slave rebellion, urge the Cretans to overthrow the Roman administration. With many of the island's troops either killed or wounded during the earthquake, the governor of the province calls on Macro and Cato for help. Can they move swiftly enough to counter the rebellion before it sweeps the Romans from the island?
It was over a hundred years since the might of Rome had first come into contact with the Parthians and, ever since, both empires had been playing a deadly game for control of Palmyra, the lands to the east of the Roman province of Syria. Now that Rome was negotiating a closer treaty with Palmyra her influence had spread to the banks of the Euphrates, right on the frontier with her old foe. There was no longer any buffer state between Rome and Parthia and few men had any doubt that the simmering hostility would flare up into a new conflict before long. The legions back in Syria had already been preparing for a campaign when the centurion and his men had marched out of the gates of Damascus.
To restore the competence of the men defending a vital fort, two experienced centurions are dispatched to Judea. On their arrival Macro and Cato discover that Bannus, a local tribesman, is fomenting rebellion amongst the followers of Jehoshua, who was crucified in Jerusalem some seventeen years earlier. As the local revolt grows, Rome's longstanding enemy Parthia is poised to invade. Macro and Cato must stamp out corruption in the cohort and restore it to fighting fitness before the Eastern provinces are lost forever. Originally published in the UK as The Eagle in the Sand and available for the first time in the US, The Zealot follows the continuing adventures of centurions Cato and Macro. A master of his craft, Simon Scarrow combines stunning historical detail with riveting battles and rich characters to bring the Roman Empire to life as never before.
Kolejny tom bestsellerowego cyklu rzymskiego!Jest 54 rok n. e. Cesarz Klaudiusz nie żyje. Neron przejmuje władzę, jednak do tronu pretenduje także jego przyrodni brat Brytanik. Rozpoczyna się krwawa walka o tytuł cesarza. Wszystko, czego pragną prefekt Katon i centurion Macro, to prowadzić proste życie w armii i walczyć, mając u boku lojalnych żołnierzy. Niestety Katon zwrócił na siebie uwagę rywalizujących frakcji, które są zdeterminowane, aby przeciągnąć go na swoją stronę. Gdy siły rebeliantów rosną, legioniści i gwardia pretoriańska stają się pionkami w politycznej grze na wielką skalę. Czy można zapobiec wojnie domowej? I kto ostatecznie przejmie władzę? Przyszłość Imperium jest w rękach Katona...
The Scorpion's Strike (Hodder and Stoughton, 17.99 [pounds sterling]) by Anthony Riches has more or less the same plot, though it begins out west. Maternus, a centurion in the Roman army, has gone rogue: against imperial orders to keep quiet and hold position, he has torched a village in "barbarian Germania". A tribune arrives on the scene and confronts his men: "Gods below. What the fuck have you fools done?" Maternus fails to show contrition. The two men face off and it is the tribune who ends up dead. Once again the scene then shifts to Rome, where the scheming Cleander, chamberlain of the Emperor Commodus, organizes an expedition against Maternus. He forces the unfortunate Marcus Valerius Aquila, a personal enemy of the emperor, to join the army, and enlists two assassins to ensure he never comes back. Will Marcus manage to stop Maternus's rebellion and dodge the killers lurking inside his own army? Will he make it back to Rome? The Scorpion's Strike is the tenth in a series (Empire X), so we are used to seeing Marcus successfully undertake impossible missions. The result is less tense than The Lost Ten, also because it involves a vast range of characters (often defined by ethnic cliche), indulges in extended... 2ff7e9595c
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