The trouble with books based around the Roman Empire is having to get your head around all the characters names!
This is the first book I've read in the series (it would seem to have several predecessors) but works easily as a stand alone novel.
The hero of the piece is Vespasian - Governor of Africa - who has been sent to free several Roman slaves.
That is an undertaking of great peril and adventure but for me the book really comes alive when the action returns to Rome. Currently under the control of the narcissistic Emperor Nero the mix of fact and fiction really brings the era alive.
When Rome starts to burn attention turns to how the blaze started and we really see how darned rotten to the core Nero is.
There is blood and guts aplenty, death galore, revenge, action and thrills from start to finish. I rattled through this in a day as it was completely in-put-downable!
This is the first book I've read in the series (it would seem to have several predecessors) but works easily as a stand alone novel.
The hero of the piece is Vespasian - Governor of Africa - who has been sent to free several Roman slaves.
That is an undertaking of great peril and adventure but for me the book really comes alive when the action returns to Rome. Currently under the control of the narcissistic Emperor Nero the mix of fact and fiction really brings the era alive.
When Rome starts to burn attention turns to how the blaze started and we really see how darned rotten to the core Nero is.
There is blood and guts aplenty, death galore, revenge, action and thrills from start to finish. I rattled through this in a day as it was completely in-put-downable!