Showing results by author "S. J. A. Turney" in All Categories

It is 58 BC, and the mighty Tenth Legion, camped in Northern Italy, prepare for the arrival of the most notorious general in Roman history: Julius Caesar. Marcus Falerius Fronto, commander of the Tenth, is a career soldier and long-time companion of Caesar's. Despite his desire for the simplicity of the military life, he cannot help but be drawn into intrigue and politics as Caesar engineers a motive to invade the lands of Gaul.

It is 56 BC. As Fronto and his friends’ winter in Rome and Caesar in Illyricum, trouble is brewing in the north. The tribes of Armorica, driven to desperate action by the harsh rule of Crassus, raise their standards in defiance of the Roman eagle, causing a chain reaction that threatens everything the legions of Caesar have achieved. Meanwhile, in Rome, the conspiracies against Caesar take an unexpected turn, plunging Fronto and his friends into a world of crime, violence and intrigue that threaten everything the legate cares about.

It is the eve of destruction. Gaul seethes and bucks more than ever in revolt against the Roman invader, with even Caesar's allies beginning to question their loyalty. A conspiracy of Druids and Kings move the pieces into position in their great game of independence, all led by the powerful exile Vercingetorix. The lands of the Belgae burn in the vengeful aftermath of a winter that saw countless Romans butchered by the Eburone King: Ambiorix.

57 BC. The fearsome Belgae have gathered a great army to oppose Rome, and Fronto and the legions assemble once more to take Caesar's war against the most dangerous tribes in the northern world. While the legions battle the Celts in the fiercest war of Caesar's career, the plots and conspiracies against him, both at Rome and among his own army, become ever deeper and more dangerous.

55 BC and Caesar's army gathers in the north of Gaul, preparing to drive away invading Germanic peoples and to traverse the dangerous northern ocean bringing punishment to the tribes of Britannia for their assistance of Gaulish rebels. But Fronto's troubles don't stop there. As his burgeoning relationship with Lucilia steps to a new level, so do his responsibilities at home, a situation exacerbated by the disruptive influence of the villainous Clodius in the city, causing trouble and endangering those about whom Fronto cares most.

The war in Gaul is over. The rebels are defeated. Now the battle for Rome has begun.

As tensions build in Gaul and the druids manoeuvre the tribes towards general rebellion, Priscus and the diminishing senior staff of Caesar's army prepare to return to Britannia, this time with a vast army and a will to crush the tribes of that mysterious island. Meanwhile, Fronto contemplates a non-military future as he settles into the life of a married nobleman, socialising with Rome's elite and coming to terms with the decline in his fitness.

After many months of clandestine organisation, Vercingetorix, backed by the druids and leading an army of rebellious tribes, is ready to make his first moves towards independence for his people and the annihilation of Rome's presence in Gaul. Meanwhile, Caesar tends to business in Aquileia, unaware that he is cut off from the bulk of his army in the north by the rebellion. Fronto and his friends are heading for a clash of armies the likes of which the north has never seen, and the Tenth's legate is about to face his most trying year yet.

Winter, 48 BC. Caesar and his small force are trapped in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Caught up in the dynastic struggles of the House of Ptolemy, the consul has sided with the clever and ruthless Queen Cleopatra. Her brother and fellow monarch, Ptolemy XIII, languishes in the palace, a hostage of Caesar's, while a huge army under the command of the Egyptian General Achillas closes on the city to free him.

Europe is aflame. On the Iberian Peninsula the wars of the Reconquista rage across Aragon and Castile. Once again, the Moors are gaining the upper hand. Christendom is divided. Amid the chaos comes a young knight: Arnau of Valbona. After his Lord is killed in an act of treachery, Arnau pledges to look after his daughter, whose life is now at risk. But in protecting her Arnau will face terrible challenges, and enter a world of Templars, steely knights, and visceral combat he could never have imagined. She in turn will find a new destiny with the Knights as a daughter of war....

It is 50BC and Caesar winters with his legions in the north - all Gaul conquered but a triumphant return to Rome denied him by the senate who seek his blood. Yet unrest stirs in unknown lands, as the tribes of mountainous Aquitania rise under a terrifying new leader and drive out their Roman occupiers. Marcus Falerius Fronto, exiled from Rome, seeks out his former commander in an effort to build a future and soon finds himself in command of a most unusual legion with a remit to restore peace in Aquitania.

It is 48 BC, and Caesar is master of Rome, but Pompey is at large in the huge recruiting grounds of the east with a core of powerful officers, nominally representing the senate in absentia. As the general deals with matters in the city, his army gathers at the coast, waiting to cross the sea and fight that worst of all conflicts: civil war.

The villain Cleander has fallen, his wickedness gone from the imperial court, but his influence lives on. Amongst the Praetorians, a network of spies, killers and thieves remain, clawing on to the power they have enjoyed. Rufinus, returned to the Guard at the hands of the devious Frumentarii, Rome’s imperial secret service, is intent on bringing the entire web of villainy to justice. But Commodus’s reign falters and Rome is in peril. Wolves are at the door and every man with power prepares to make a bid for the purple.

51 BC. In the aftermath of the dreadful siege of Alesia, the tribes of Gaul lie broken and sparse, and yet the fires of rebellion still burn in the hearts of a few. As Caesar and his army continue to pacify the land wherever revolt can be found, a new conspiracy is rising. Lucterius of the Cadurci, survivor of Alesia, seeks to raise a new great revolt, building an army in his homeland, while a small group of dangerous warriors embark upon a secret and dangerous mission to rebuild all that was lost in that great siege.

The war in Africa is over and the rebel cause hangs by a thread. With opposition to Caesar now led by Labienus and by Pompey’s sons in Hispania, Caesar is one step from ending the civil war that has plagued Rome for years. Before the war can be pursued, though, Caesar has matters to attend to in Rome. And against a backdrop of glorious triumphs and civil friction, the general’s old warhorse Marcus Falerius Fronto begins to uncover a series of events that may have a cause in common.

46 BC. Pompey is dead, Egypt is settled and Rome is controlled by the loyal Marcus Antonius. As the new year looms, Rome's greatest general and dictator Julius Caesar moves precipitously to take on the last stronghold of the rebel faction: Africa. Crossing against all advice in the middle of winter, with minimal forces and little forward planning, the campaign almost dies before it begins, legions scattered across the sea by vicious storms, the general putting ashore with just a single legion and his most trusted veteran commander: Marcus Falerius Fronto.

The empire is settled from its civil wars with a strong new ruler in Septimius Severus, and while the emperor campaigns in the east, a cohort of Praetorians has been left in control of Rome under Rufinus, now a tribune of the Guard. But adventure calls once more, as Rufinus receives a worrying letter that sends him on a quest in the north, which will take him and his new faithful companion to the edge of empire, where he will uncover a secret that puts the whole world in danger.

Anno Domini 1040. Christianity has swept unstoppably across Scandinavia, leaving few enclaves of the old ways clinging on to their fading world as King Olof of Sweden works to convert his people. A young warrior, Halfdan, has witnessed the ‘mercy' of the Christian lords, watched his people attacked, his village burned and the Odin stone toppled as heretical. Watched his father cut down by an ambitious Christian jarl and his zealous priest. Among the ashes of his world, he vowed an oath of vengeance before all the gods.

AD 1043. Having escaped Constantinople with their lives—barely—but not their ship, Halfdan and the wolves of Odin are now mercenaries in the Byzantine army, sailing to Apulia in Italy to help retake territory from the Normans. But cracks are beginning to show among the tight-knit wolves. Gunnhild, having forsaken the fate woven for her by the Norns in order to continue her journey with Halfdan, has lost her ability to communicate with the goddess Freyja, and so glimpse the future.

Rome has a new emperor; a strong emperor. Septimius Severus, a lion of the battlefield, now moves east to face the usurper Pescennius Niger, contesting with a clever opponent with the ultimate prize in the balance: the throne of Rome. But with civil war raging all across the East, problems abound. One of the frumentarii, the emperor's military agents, has gone missing in Arabia, and with him has gone a list of the service's personnel.