The Blood of Gods by Conn Iggulden (Emperor 5)

Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 432
Year: 2013 (23 May)
Buy: Hardback, Kindle
Source: Review copy

Review
The story of the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Theatre of Pompey in 44BC is a familiar one, possibly the most famous of all Roman tales thanks to Shakespeare and Hollywood. For Conn Iggulden, though, it represents the inevitable and natural culmination of his superb series Emperor, which has brought alive the rise to power of the god Julius and now, in The Blood of Gods, depicts his fellow Romans slipping in his blood, scrambling for position, giving way under the indomitable obsession for revenge wielded by his adopted son Octavian, the new Julius Caesar – Rome’s first emperor in everything but name. The story might be familiar but Conn Iggulden brings a context to it, to Octavian’s dramatic rise to power, as well as a poignancy thanks to all that we have learned over previous books about Caesar’s deep friendship with Brutus, the final assassin. We can’t forget Mark Antony here either. Iggulden replaces the famous speech of Shakespeare’s Antony with a piece of gutwrenching theatre performed over the corpse of his friend. The die is cast and we’re on the road to Philippi before you know it.

The familiarity of the novel’s story is offset by Conn Iggulden’s perceptive insight into the characters of Caesar’s friends and enemies. This is especially true of Octavian, renamed Julius Caesar in the days following the killing. We are first introduced to Octavian and his brave and loyal friends Maecenas and Agrippa on leave in Greece. Their behaviour, which speaks large of bravery, honour and drunkenness, immediately has to readjust itself as Octavian learns of events in Rome. He is transformed into a young man with a mission. He is a poor man and so must use all his guile to win over support. It’s not possible to doubt for a minute that he won’t achieve power and the fulfilment of his oath to avenge his adopted father. Octavian is a fine creation here who comes into his own more and more as the chapters progress, mirroring the increasing confusion of Mark Antony. Both, ingeniously, are very likeable.

Mark Antony, a consul, is a man who holds great authority and wants to do the right thing by Caesar but knows that he must use all his charisma and intelligence just to stay alive. As the forces of Rome realign and ajust, these are dangerous days. Even facing each other across the battlefield is no guarantee that you know what side you’re on. You could almost feel pity for Brutus and Cassius but in The Blood of Gods the time for sympathy for Brutus’ ideals is past. In this book, the focus is very much on the complex character of Octavian instead.

There are some fantastic set pieces in The Blood of Gods. In addition to the famous last battle, there is also a harrowing sea battle led by Agrippa. This is real heart in the mouth action and while the creation of a new fleet should seem not out of the ordinary for the builders of the Empire’s network of roads, its heroism and gall is pounding. The horrifying battle sequences complement well the political machinations of Rome just as the combat exists side by side with great oratory. The manipulation of Rome’s masses is as important as prowess on the battlefield.

It’s been over five years since the publication of the last Emperor novel, The Gods of War. Now the story ends at last, just a few months short of Iggulden’s move to Penguin for the launch of his new Wars of the Roses series. There is indeed closure here. You can feel it in the few scenes with Brutus and Cassius, in the shifting of Mark Antony as he tries to find his own place of comfort and power, and in the resolution of Octavian Caesar to proclaim his adopted father a god, his assassins all slaughtered. Above all, though, The Blood of Gods is an enormously confident and accomplished novel that achieves the near impossible task of placing you, the reader, in the very heart of this most fascinating time in Roman history as a witness to the actions of its greatest men.

The Ghosts of Athens by Richard Blake

Publisher: Hodder
Pages: 448
Year: 2013
Buy: Paperback, Kindle
Source: Review copy

Review
There is something fascinating about the fortune of western Europe during those years of mystery that lay between the Roman and Carolingian empires. Centuries of decline and decay, caused and aggravated by abandonment by the Roman authorities, now based in Constantinople, and attack by the northern tribes. Arguably, the one hope for those living amongst the ruins lay in the new Christian order which flourished in the West, just as it did in the East. Unfortunately, with the bishops not able to agree about even the nature of Christ, union seemed impossible and even undesirable.

It’s in this 7th-century world that we meet Aelric – senator and advisor to the emperor in Constantinople, troubleshooter and troublemaker, handy with fist and pen, with one eye open for attractive female company and the other for enlightening literary or theological texts. Having failed to keep the peace in Alexandria, Aelric is sent with Priscus, a deeply unsavoury general, to Athens. They are there to be either executed (or at least have their eyes burnt out) for having failed their master or to rule over an unhappy meeting of bishops and prelates designed to bring the western and eastern churches together. The fact that the novel is over 400 pages long indicates the latter.

The historical setting of The Ghosts of Athens is superb. The descriptions of Athens are compelling. The remains of the glory days can still be seen, admired and visited while the decayed city streets are filled with an ugly, diseased and impoverished population, as far removed as is possible to be from those famously godlike Athenians of antiquity. You can almost taste the rot. This is compounded by a description of a garden frog stew that put me off food for a week. And when a headless corpse turns up, pulled out from under an ancient tomb, and is subjected to the kind of treatment that only the despicable Priscus could summon up, I was reaching for a bucket.

There is an issue, though. This extraordinary historical colour is let down by a rambling and incoherent story that loses direction and point at every turn. Aelric has similar colour and is entertaining and shocking in equal measure. But he is not enough. The other characters came across to me as either cartoon grotesques or cardboard cutouts. Nobody seemed ‘normal’. The story could have been about the murder, it could have been about religious argument and debate, it could have been about a city on the point of violent collapse. I didn’t really know. It was a bit of all of these with Aelric’s own private agendas added in. Also, the early chapters are set at a future date in a fantastically-realised decrepit London but there was little to join it with the bulk of the novel.

The first third is excellent and pulled me in. The remaining two thirds did their best to spit me out. It is a shame because Rome’s death throes provide such a setting and Blake clearly enjoyed putting them to paper. The beginning is so much fun to read. However, a novel needs to give more to its reader, at least this reader.

The Ghosts of Athens is the fifth book in a series and it’s possible that if I had read the others I might have enjoyed it more. It’s unlikely, though, that I’ll read the next.

Avenger of Rome by Douglas Jackson

Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 352
Year: 2012 (16 August)
Buy: Hardback, Kindle
Source: Review copy

Review
Gaius Valerius Verrens, the Hero of Rome, is back. His title is just. Having barely survived the bitter onslaught of Boudicca on the Temple of Claudius (Hero of Rome), Valerius returned to Rome to receive the adulation of the deranged Emperor Nero as well as the terrible and bloody task of ridding the city of its Christians (Defender of Rome). Now, in the third novel in the series, Valerius is given a choice. He must ride out east to Antioch to spy on Rome’s most successful general Corbolo and, if necessary, remove him from the reach of Nero’s jealous gaze or his sister will be eliminated. What choice is there? Still honourable, and always brave, Valerius agrees to escort Domitia, the daughter of Corbulo, on a sea voyage to her father’s side. Despite the pressure, Valerius is no slave to the whim of a half mad emperor. He is our hero, a likeable, proud and less than whole man, who will do whatever he can to stay as true to the course of honour as he can in these dark days.

Avenger of Rome is a book of two halves – the first follows Valerius’ most arduous journey to Antioch escorting the lady Domitia to her father Corbulo, both strong and fascinating characters. The second half places Valerius in his more familiar surroundings – the bloody battlefield. It would be difficult to decide which is the most exciting and moving. The journey to Antioch becomes a lesson in survival for Valerius, the brave and indomitable but so young Domitia and Valerius’ new friend junior tribune Tiberius, who is en route to begin service in Corbulo’s army. When they finally reach the general in Antioch, ties have been formed which will inform the rest of the story.

Corbulo has a plan to keep the eastern kings in their place and he is prepared to carry out his scheme even though he is well aware that it may mean his destruction at the whim of a jealous emperor. But Corbulo is a man who puts the needs of his country above those of himself. Not surprising, then, that Valerius finds a man to honour. The relationship between Corbulo and Valerius forms the heart of the second half of the book, just as the friendship between Valerius and Domitia and Tiberius is the centre of the first half.

There are deadly battles here and great bravery and sacrifice by the general, his commanders and their men, but what makes Avenger of Rome such a satisfying and rewarding third novel is that it is different to the previous two. The astonishing Temple of Claudius scenes of the first novel of the three, Hero of Rome, makes that a difficult novel to beat in terms of bloody action and thrills whereas Defender of Rome is an enormously dramatic depiction of life in Rome under Nero, whether one is an ambitious soldier or a vulnerable Christian. Avenger of Rome is different again. This time, in tandem with the battles against Parthia’s finest, we have conspiracy, raw emotion, love even and masses of danger, not all of it on the battlefield.

Much of the action may take place far from Rome, but the centre of the empire isn’t forgotten and there are scenes in which we get far too close to the rot at its heart, namely Nero and his Praetorian Guard.

Valerius continues to deserve the title of hero – ours as well as Rome’s – but in Avenger of Rome there are also three other characters who you’ll remember: Corbulo, Domitia and Tiberius. We’re invested in all three and as a result Avenger of Rome doesn’t just thrill, it also moves. It’s not often a novel about a Roman soldier moves me to tears, but this one manages it. The Sword of Rome is coming…

You don’t need to have read the previous two novels to enjoy Avenger of Rome, but it would be such a shame to deny yourself the treat.

Douglas Jackson Reviews
Defender of Rome
Caligula and Claudius

I also recommend Douglas Jackson’s thrillers under the name of James Douglas:
The Doomsday Testament
The Isis Covenant

The Last Caesar by Henry Venmore-Rowland

Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 320
Year: 2012, Pb 2013 (25 April)
Buy: Hardback, Kindle, Paperback
Source: Review copy

Review
It’s unlikely that the 1st century AD will lose its interest any time soon for authors and readers alike. Dominated by characters and megalomaniacs that you’d be hard pressed to make up, Caligula, Nero and Vespasian – to name just three out of many – are gifts to novelists. In his debut novel The Last Caesar, Henry Venmore-Rowland focuses on the events of AD 68, an extraordinary year in which Rome’s most powerful aristocrats and generals reached the end of their tether with possibly the worst of the lot, Nero.

Fresh from his success on the field against Boudicea in Britain, young soldier and quaestor Aulus Caecina Severus finds himself the pawn in a plot involving Rome’s mighty governors. They have one goal – the overthrowing of Nero – except for Galba, who has another – the installation of himself as emperor. But he is an old man with no heirs. The ambitious young Severus is no fool and neither is Galba.

The Last Caesar follows Severus as he moves across Gaul in his mission to spread the conspiracy across the western empire while fooling Roman legions and barbarians alike into providing a smokescreen. Disguised as something he is not, Severus has much to contend with, quite apart from the hardship of military life in the field, and is vulnerable to the deceits and cowardice of others, not to mention their knives.

This is the first of two novels in the telling of AD 68 and the novel is narrated by Severus as an old man. Therefore, we know from the first page that our young hero will survive but at what cost?

Henry Venmore-Rowland is a very young man, just out of University, and this makes the publication of The Last Caesar all the more of an achievement. Severus has a young voice and it is largely a modern young voice. This combination of more traditional historical fiction with contemporary overtones works very well. Severus is not always a likeable character. He’s not afraid to use people and some of his decisions are violent and harsh. But these are terrible times when a successful general would be ordered by Nero to commit suicide. A plot would have no chance if led by selfless, completely honest paragons of classical virtue.

There are some interesting characters here quite apart from the intriguing and flawed Severus, barbarian and Roman, and the politics are offset by the thrill of the battle and the danger of Severus’ subterfuge.

This is not a long novel but, after an exciting start, it did take its time for the story to develop. There is a lot of talk. However, these issues with pace and structure are a minor side-effect of this being a debut novel by such a young writer and one can expect them ironed out in the future. This is a very well-researched and confident first novel. Henry is a new voice in British historical fiction and I look forward very much to watching his career develop. He can be very proud of its origins in The Last Caesar.

Vespasian II: Rome’s Executioner by Robert Fabbri

Publisher: Atlantic Books
Pages: 368
Year: 2012 (Pb, 1 Nov)
Buy: Paperback, Hardback, Kindle
Source: Review copy

Review
Robert Fabbri’s Vespasian: Tribune of Rome was a highlight of 2011 and, I would argue, the historical fiction debut of the year. On the face of it, Vespasian was an intriguing choice for a new series of novels. Vespasian (70s AD) was not a Roman emperor I knew much about, other than that he was a great administrator, a bit of a moneypincher and the builder of Rome’s most glamorous monument, the Colosseum. But, before he came to power, Vespasian led armies to victory in Britain and Judaea and, even more impressively, survived the imperial reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula and Nero, right under their noses. He could not have done that without being the consummate politician and strategist. So, after all, Vespasian is perfect material for a new series and, as you’ll see from my review of the first, Tribune of Rome, Robert Fabbri has done a superb job of making Vespasian (and his brother Sabinus) real and his Roman world three dimensional.

Rome’s Executioner picks up the story of Vespasian in AD 30, when the young soldier is learning the ropes in Thracia. Despite being far from Rome, it’s not long before the intrigues of the city arrive, here in the shape of Vespasian’s brother Sabinus – a natural soldier as Vespasian is a born administrator. The plots and schemes of the brothers’ patron Antonia spread far. The mother of stuttering fool Claudius and the grandmother of hedonist Caligula, she is also the mother of Livilla, a bigger source of trouble you could not imagine. She and her lover Sejanus have managed to bring Rome almost to its knees while its demented emperor Tiberius plays with his ‘fishes’ on his island of Capri.

The mission of Vespasian and Sabinus is to find a believable witness of Sejanus’ treachery and bring him before Tiberius. The most likely choice is a Thracian priest who has been invoking attacks on Rome’s soldiers. No one is better placed than Vespasian to capture this nasty bit of work and bring him before the emperor.

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that this is extraordinarily more difficult than it sounds and before it can happen Robert Fabbri will make use of his thrilling battle-describing skills, including the incredible scenes when Vespasian and a small group smuggle themselves into the Thracian fortress of Sagadava. And it doesn’t stop there. The chariot race was an especially memorable part of Tribune of Rome and one aspect of Robert’s writing that I have come to look forward to is his gripping and incredibly detailed and realistic action sequences. There is a sea battle here that I am unlikely to forget and I was on the edge of my armchair reading it. And you won’t want to go anywhere near a lamprey after reading Rome’s Executioner – that’s if you know where a lamprey is to avoid it.

The battle scenes are equalled by the extraordinary sequence of events in Rome which fill the second half of the novel. You just couldn’t make these people up and it is incredible to think that these men and women had control over the lives of so many. Vespasian, as we know from the first book, is a friend of Caligula and so we see a side to this famous demon that is less familiar. But Tiberius is another kettle of fish altogether. Robert Fabbri, though, doesn’t just present a monster, he shows a man distorted and warped by mental illness and power. Likewise, Vespasian is an interesting and complex man. He is likeable, as one would want from the subject of a series of novels, but he can be just a little bit odd. It’s hard to imagine how he could have survived otherwise.

Rome’s Executioner is a thoroughly satisfying and much anticipated sequel to a fine debut. It is not an easy read in places – these were dark days and what Vespasian has to endure and even participate in is sometimes truly horrid. There is no escape from that and there is no shine or gloss put on some of the despicable acts that took place as Tiberius reasserted his authority. I felt quite shocked by the time I’d finished the novel – the thrill of the battles and intrigue as well as the wonder with which ancient Rome is recreated go hand in hand with a frank telling that hints at what it must have been like to live through these days. This is fine storytelling to produce such a reaction.

The False God of Rome is the next in the series and it can’t come soon enough.

I am very grateful for the advance copy!

Marius’ Mules I: The Invasion of Gaul by S.J.A. Turney

Publisher: YouWriteOn
Pages: 423
Year: 2010
Buy: Paperback, Kindle
Source: Prize copy

Review
I don’t know what it is about novels on Rome and its legions but I can’t get enough of them. Nothing spread Roman imperialism and culture to the masses quite like its armies and, if I had to give a reason why such novels fascinate me so much, I might argue it’s because they can dramatise so well the tension of life on the fringes of Rome, sometimes literally and often in other ways as well. The clashes of cultures and worlds, culminating in hand to hand conflict, is, if written well, very exciting and immediate on the page. Two thousand years ago, a Roman soldier would have found himself in all sorts of sticky spots before, if he were fortunate enough not to be struck down on the battlefield, finally settling down many miles from his place of birth – another type of Roman conquest. Not surprisingly, then, I was delighted to win a copy of S.J.A. Turney’s The Invasion of Gaul, which is the first in a series of novels about these heavily burdened, mile marching legionaries known as Marius’ Mules (after the popular military hero of Republican Rome Marius) who followed Julius Caesar across Gaul in the mid 1st century BC.

Julius Caesar might be the most important man of the novel but our attention focuses on Marcus Falerius Fronto, the legate in command of the Tenth. Fronto is a man from a wealthy and privileged background but he has turned his back on a potentially rewarding political career in the senate or as a province governor in favour of leading a legion – not for a year or two, but for good. As such, he is one of the few high rankers that Caesar can trust, not that this necessarily means that Fronto trusts him back. As well as Fronto, we get to know his primus pilus, or chief centurion, Priscus, the chief training officer, Velius, the extraordinary military engineer, Tetricus, the commander of the Eighth, Balbus, and Longinus, the legate of the Ninth and commander of the cavalry. And that’s just to name a few. There are quite a few more I could mention. That is one of the great strengths of Marius’ Mules – it introduces us to a range of men aiming to do Caesar’s bidding while keeping their own men alive on the march, in the camp and on the battlefield. After a chapter or two, you’ll be very concerned to know how they fare.

The story is straightforward. Caesar is out to win political glory through military conquest and the best way to do that is to stir up the tribes of Gaul and Germania. Matters are helped by the fact that the tribes spend as much time fighting each other as they do the Romans but Caesar isn’t after a diplomatic solution. He wants victory, land and the kind of honour he would get from leading the chieftains of Gaul in chains behind his chariot in triumph back in Rome. As a result, this is a novel about life on the march, broken up by regular battles or skirmishes. In the second half of the book, Caesar’s mission focuses on one man, the enemy King Ariovistus but to conquer this real threat takes a little more ingenuity and strategy – just the kind of service Caesar expects from Fronto.

Although the attention is very much on the men leading the legions from the front, these are mostly career soldiers respected by their soldiers or young men experiencing their first command and earning their dues. As the soldiers get to know them, so do we. Fronto might be a skilled strategist but he’s happiest on the frontline, away from Caesar’s staff especially the unpleasant Crassus, and he spends the majority of his time getting into scrapes, getting battered and drinking it off. There’s no time for niceties when you’re on the march, constantly looking over your shoulder for enemy scouts, risking an arrow in the back. Fronto and his friends are hard drinking (they’re regulars in most of the taverns of the empire), gambling, joking, jostling men, who know that each day may be his last and enjoying it all the same.

Caesar isn’t quite the hero we’re used to. He makes his mistakes and he surrounds himself with both good and bad advisers, largely because he can’t take one eye off the senate, and he is prepared to sacrifice thousands of lives – Roman and barbarian – for his ambition and still proclaim it for the glory of Rome. Nevertheless, he is the boss and we see little more of Caesar than Fronto shows us. Likewise, because this is the story of Fronto and the other legates, we see relatively little of the enemy, except as glimpses in the forest or on the other side of the shieldwall

By the end of Marius’ Mules there won’t be much you won’t know about the construction of Roman camps, Roman battle formations and troops, military equipment and uniform, personal possessions, the treatment of the dead and life on the march. I was as fascinated by all of that as I was entertained by the repartee between Fronto and his friends. It all feels very realistic while letting you get close to the men due to their banter and bravery in the field. As a result I felt quite moved in places. This is a self-published book but it deserves to be on the shelves of our bookshops. I’m delighted to say that I have already bought Marius’ Mules II: The Belgae and look forward to seeing what Fronto and Caesar get up to against the next bunch of unlucky barbarians.

Rome: The Coming of the King by M.C. Scott

Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 416
Year: 2011 (Pb 2012)
Buy: Paperback, Kindle
Source: Bought copy

Review
Two years after the great fire of Rome and the close of Rome: The Emperor’s Spy, Sebastos Abdes Pantera has pursued Saulos to Judaea. As we recall, Pantera is a Roman spy and pupil of Seneca while Saulos is the arch enemy of Roman and Hebrew alike. Known to history as St Paul but here freshly interpreted as an agent of vengeance and death, Saulos has recovered from his severe burns, resulting from the fire, and now has his destructive sights fixed on Herod and his family and the annihilation of the entire Hebrew race. Pantera’s injuries are more of the mind. Still mourning his lost family in Britain and with his new family safely despatched to Mona, the sacred island of the Druids, Pantera focuses on restoring peace to Israel.

Pantera is a loved man – he is surrounded my men such as Mergus and women like Hypatia who would die for him. By contrast, Saulos is followed by the Berber huntress Ikshara who is tied to him only through lies and deceit.

The Coming of the King carries us around the Kingdom of Judaea in 66 AD. The focus is on the court of Herod, his sister Berenice and his niece Kleopatra. They are surrounded by rioting Hebrews and Syrians, pacifists and warmongers. As the influence of Saulos grows, the voice of reason dies, and the royal family leaves their palace at Caesarea for Jerusalem where they are effectively undersiege and under attack from without and within. Pantera’s influence also grows, uniting the descendants of the Galilean, gaining arms and support through a daring assault on the seemingly impenetrable fortress of Masada in the desert.

However, the action of The Coming of the King, although exciting, is not what makes the book. As with the previous novel, what makes The Coming of the King special is the deeply realised characters and the prose that is used to create them and shape their actions. Pantera and Saulos are not new to us – and I would certainly recommend that you read The Emperor’s Spy first – but Kleopatra, Berenice and Ikshara are brilliant additions to the series of novels while, rather noticeably, Herod himself is barely touched upon at all.

The prose is as beautiful as one would expect from Manda Scott. This is not a book to rush through. The past and fears for the future influence the actions of each of the characters as they keep an eye on the wider world at play here. The descriptions of the streets, the people in those streets, the politicians and soldiers, the fanatics and the desert dwellers – all are beautifully presented and make this feel indeed like a journey to 1st-century Israel, with its political conflicts and its religious struggles.

I would argue that this second novel does not quite reach the heights of the astonishing first book in the series, but it does conclude well the story of Saulos. Whether you agree with the interpretation of Saulos or not, there is a validity to the argument and power in its execution and the pairing of Saulos and Pantera is fascinating. Possibly, the problem here is that The Emperor’s Spy presented such outstanding characters – Hannah and Math (not to mention Nero himself) – that I missed them.

The story continues next year with The Eagle of the Twelfth, the story of the legion of the damned. I can’t wait.

Fire in the East (Warrior of Rome I) by Harry Sidebottom

Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 448
Year: 2009
Buy: Paperback, Kindle
Source: Bought copy

Review
For a novel about the Roman world to succeed, in my opinion, it needs to combine historical accuracy, authority even, with an immediacy that snaps me out of the 21st century. I need to believe that the lives and events I am reading about could have existed, even if I know that they didn’t. It needn’t take much to throw a reader out of a historical novel but when the author is Harry Sidebottom the reader – and the characters- are in safe hands.

Harry Sidebottom is a Lecturer of Ancient History at the University of Oxford. By definition, that should mean that he knows his stuff. And indeed he does but it’s the way that he carries this expertise that makes his Warrior of Rome series (or at least the quarter of it that I’ve read) so believable and readable. It helps, of course, that the series takes place during a difficult time in Roman history, the troubled third century, when more than one emperor was attempting to hold sway at the same time. The action also takes place in the mysterious east, in Syria, on the edges of the retreating empire. On both counts, Fire in the East is different from many other Roman military novels.

Fire in the East introduces us to Ballista, the long-haired barbarian from the north, an Angle, who has risen from dubious origins (to say the least) to be a commander of the Roman army. His mission is to fortify the city of Arete in Syria and hold it against the Persian King of Kings at all cost. Ballista has to dig in, win the favour of the mixed community within the city, and use all his wit, guile and courage to protect Arete from the thousands of soldiers and hoards camped around the city’s walls.

With Ballista is his familia, gathered from across the empire, including Greeks and Spaniards. Not all are free, some are slaves, notably his bodyguard Maximus and his secretary Demetrius, but Ballista drinks with them all and will embrace them before battle. However, as Ballista is painfully aware, friendships are secondary when compared to the urgency of saving the city and its inhabitants.

This is a hugely exciting novel, carefully structured and paced, as we follow very closely Ballista’s strategies to defend Arete and then his courage in facing the enemy, so much greater in number. You can almost feel the arrows fly past your cheek or the artillery smash stone and men at your feet. Ballista is an enormously likeable young man and the reader’s feelings are intensified by the moments of vulnerability – for his past, his wife and child – that he lets slip to us yet to no-one else. He is mocked by the Romans in the city and yet the Romans are outnumbered in Arete by its eastern population and soon it’s Ballista’s name they chant. But the Angle can never forget that there are traitors around him and that his death may come just as easily, maybe even easier, from an act of betrayal as from an arrow or sword during battle.

The story moves around Arete, its different communities and religions. A range of characters are given leave to give their perspective on events. We know, for instance, that there are spies here and, as the novel progresses, part of the game is to guess who might be one of these ‘corn men’. The city itself is also a character, with its walls, towers, mines and tombs. The desert around it, with the mighty river flowing through it, is vividly presented.

Played off against the action of the siege we have the drama inside Ballista’s head. Amongst his nightmares and dreams is the growing awareness that Rome is a long way away.

Fire in the East is the first in the Warrior of Rome series which, to date, comprises four novels, the three others being King of Kings, Lion of the Sun, The Caspian Gates.

Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane

Publisher: Preface
Pages: 464
Buy: Hardback, Kindle
Source: Bought copy

Review
When the Romans kicked Carthage in the teeth by stealing Sicily off them in the First Punic War, it was only a matter of time before the Carthaginians struck back with a vengeance. That vengeance took the formidable shape of General Hannibal Barca, a bunch of elephants and a mass of infantry and cavalry gathered from across the Carthaginian Mediterranean empire.

The story of Hannibal is legendary but there is much, much more to Ben Kane’s novel than a retelling of Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps. In fact, I’d argue that the book’s title is misleading. Hannibal is present, as charismatic as one would wish, but, for much of the novel, he is an embodiment of hope or evil. He is the force that drives the Mediterranean to war. The focus instead is on the men who flock to Hannibal – whether to fight and die for him or to destroy him and his army.

We follow Hanno, a young Carthaginian nobleman, and his friend Suni who play truant one fateful day, stealing themselves away to fish but instead find themselves adrift at sea until captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Capua. Suni is sold to be a gladiator but Hanno is bought by the young Roman equestrian Quintus, a youth whose bravery is matched by that of his spirited sister Aurelia. After Hanno saves Quintus and Aurelia, it’s only a matter of time before the two young men become friends despite the great difference between them. Their fathers oppose one another on the battlefield and the goal of both boys is to reach their fathers and join them in the fight.

Hannibal takes us from North Africa to Spain, Italy and Gaul. The horrendous hardships that Hannibal’s men face as they cross the Alps – from the elements, the mountains themselves and from the tribes that control them – are described in compelling detail. The miracle is that any man or beast survived at all. While virtue is found on both sides and neither side is the favourite, there is brutality here, as life becomes something precious and at risk. Ben Kane doesn’t shy away from presenting the outrages of both sides just as he doesn’t make any character faultless. Quintus and Hanno are both very likeable but through the course of the pages we see them become the tools of war. Hanno’s brothers Bostar and Sapho, deeply competitive and flawed, demonstrate even further what happens when war and vengeance becomes the reason for being. The fathers of Quintus and Hanno have both learned lessons that their sons have yet to recognise.

Quintus’ sister Aurelia is a particularly attractive creation here. Contracted to marriage with a wealthy man fighting alongside her father she longs to hunt, fight and ride with her male relatives but, thanks to the potentially very dangerous situation at home that Quintus and her father have left her and her mother to face, she shows that the women left behind could be equally brave and resolute.

The action sequences in Hannibal are thrilling and exciting but they don’t dominate. Rich characterisation and involving relationships ensure that you will finish Hannibal quickly, wanting to learn the fate of the people who fill its pages. Fortunately, this is the first in a new series and there is much more to come.

Ben Kane is author of The Forgotten Legion Chronicles.

Fortress of Spears (Empire III) by Anthony Riches

Publisher: Hodder
Pages: 352
Buy: Hardback, Kindle
Source: Bought copy

Review
With no time for us, or hero Marcus Aquila, to draw breath, the third instalment in Anthony Riches’ superb Empire series pushes Centurion ‘Corvus’ even further north, beyond Hadrian’s Wall, in pursuit of lord Calgus, who has now committed more than one personal atrocity against the young, wronged Roman officer. Some we know about from the previous two books in the series but the latest is a shocker and sets the pace for Fortress of Spears. However, too merciless even for the locals opposing Rome, Calgus is now a prisoner of the very tribes he sought to unite. They head north and the Second Tungrians, including Corvus, are on his trail. Their goal is the Fortress of Spears, the northern fort of Dinpaladyr, famous for its deadly defences.

Life is even more complicated for Marcus now, he is in love with Felicia, the soldiers’ doctor. The possibility of future happiness tantalises Marcus but Rome and Commodus are getting nearer and are more determined than ever to uncover the identity of the supposed traitor Marcus Aquila. Two frumentarii – corn collectors or spies – are sent after Marcus, travelling relentlessly though this most dangerous of borders, accompanied by murderers and rapists. There is one clear way for the spies to distract Marcus from his determined quest for Calgus and that is to kidnap his love. But Marcus is not alone. He is surrounded and supported by a group of prefects, decurions, first spears and centurions that we have grown to care deeply for over the preceding two books. These feelings only intensify in Fortress of Spears.

Wounds of Honour focused on the infantry, Arrows of Fury has Syrian archers at its heart. In Fortress of Spears, it’s the turn of the cavalry and, as with the previous two books, there is much to be enjoyed from Anthony Riches’ descriptions of life in a different unit. This is particularly pleasing here, because Marcus is followed on to horseback by some of the larger than life figures that make this series especially enjoyable, notably Arminius and Martos, who have sworn to defend Marcus to the death despite a natural hatred of Rome.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again until I’m blue in the face, Anthony Riches’ military expertise makes every page both gripping and informative. As the series progresses, you’re placed deeper and deeper within the dangerous, vibrant and remote world of the Roman border during the 2nd century AD. You also get a sense of the many different peoples, brought together from across the empire, who manned this border – apart from Rome and yet within its grasp. Marcus and his group of centurion friends are well known to us now and while, in some ways, this third books ends with some closure, their stories thankfully are set to continue in next year’s fourth novel The Leopard Sword.