The Roman Empire is crumbling, and a shadow looms in the east...
376 AD. Countless barbarian tribes surge against the imperial borders, driven by some dark horde that has arrived from the great steppe. On the Danubian frontier, the situation is critical: the crumbling, neglected forts and watchtowers along the riverbank are thinly garrisoned by 'mere' limitanei - the impoverished border legions. Pavo, a slave freed and sent to serve with the XI Claudia in this precarious land, finds himself thrust into a tumultuous sequence of events that will shape his destiny and the fate of the Empire.
376 AD. Countless barbarian tribes surge against the imperial borders, driven by some dark horde that has arrived from the great steppe. On the Danubian frontier, the situation is critical: the crumbling, neglected forts and watchtowers along the riverbank are thinly garrisoned by 'mere' limitanei - the impoverished border legions. Pavo, a slave freed and sent to serve with the XI Claudia in this precarious land, finds himself thrust into a tumultuous sequence of events that will shape his destiny and the fate of the Empire.
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BOOK 1: LEGIONARYThe Roman Empire is crumbling, and a shadow looms in the east… 376 AD: the Eastern Roman Empire is alone against the tide of barbarians swelling on her borders. Emperor Valens juggles the paltry border defences to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on these struggling borders. The fates conspire to see Numerius Vitellius Pavo, enslaved as a boy after the death of his legionary father, thrust into the limitanei, the border legions, just before they are sent to recapture the long-lost eastern Kingdom of Bosporus. He is cast into the jaws of this plot, so twisted that the survival of the entire Roman world hangs in the balance… |
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BOOK 2: VIPER OF THE NORTHThe Danubian frontier is weaker than ever, and a storm is gathering in the north . . . Deep winter, 376 AD: Emperor Valens has withdrawn the field armies from Moesia and Thracia to fight in the Persian War. The impoverished limitanei legions left behind to defend the banks of the River Danubius are now all that stand between the war-hungry Goths and heart of the Eastern Roman Empire. For Numerius Vitellius Pavo and the men of the XI Claudia, the brief from Emperor Valens is simple: to avoid war with the Goths at all costs while the Roman defences are so weak. But in the frozen lands north of the Danubius a dark legend, thought long dead, has risen again. The name is on the lips of every warrior in Gutthiuda; the one who will unite the tribes, the one whose armies will march upon the empire, the one who will bathe in Roman blood . . . The Viper! |
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BOOK 3: LAND OF THE SACRED FIREThe empire is on its knees, but a last hope lies beyond the eastern frontier . . . 377 AD: Emperor Valens has stripped the Persian frontier of its legions, sending every available man to the northern front where the Gothic War rages. This draws the attentions of Shapur II, the Persian King of Kings, to Rome’s now sparsely-defended eastern holdings. With the legions gone, Valens' only hope of staving off a Persian invasion is a covert mission. For in the heart of enemy's desert lands, something thought long lost might just offer salvation. He calls upon a small band of men from Thracia... Pavo and a select group of the XI Claudia legionaries head east, knowing only that they are to march into a burning land of strange gods. All too soon it becomes clear to them that this is no ordinary mission – indeed, the very fate of the empire might rest upon their efforts. But for Pavo the burden is weightier still, for he knows that the east also holds something even more precious to him . . . the truth about his father. |
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BOOK 4: THE SCOURGE OF THRACIAThe legions are in tatters, and the Gothic hordes are gathering beyond the mountains . . . 377 AD: Thracia’s battered legions must rally to blockade the Haemus Mountain passes and hold back the relentless attacks of Fritigern’s Goths. These defences must endure until Eastern Emperor Valens and Western Emperor Gratian can muster and bring their Praesental Armies in relief. Pavo and the men of the XI Claudia return to Constantinople from their brutal Persian sortie to hear widespread tales of Thracia’s plight and the precarious mountain blockades. Each of them knows what is at stake should those passes fall: the heartland of the Eastern Empire would face the wrath of the barbarians and loved ones would be at the mercy of their savage blades. When the Claudia are despatched to aid the effort at the mountains, Pavo can think only of two souls wandering in the jaws of the Gothic threat: his beloved Felicia and his lost half-brother, Dexion. So he and his comrades march at haste, headlong into the storm that awaits them . . . |
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BOOK 5: GODS & EMPERORSThe fate of the East rests on the edge of a sword as the legions and the Goths march to war… 378 AD: Fritigern’s Gothic horde tightens its iron grip on Thracia. The tattered legions that remain can only watch on as the Goths roam at will, pillaging and extorting. Every Roman – legionary or citizen – speaks of only one thing: the Emperors of East and West, Valens and Gratian, who are said to be closing swiftly on this war-stricken land, each bringing with them vast armies capable of vanquishing the horde. Awaiting the relief armies in Constantinople, Centurion Pavo and the XI Claudia prepare as best they can. Yet their leaders, Tribunus Gallus and Primus Pilus Dexion – Pavo’s brother – have not been seen or heard from since setting off on a mission to Emperor Gratian’s court in the West. Some are sure they must have fallen, yet Pavo refuses to give up hope, praying that fate will guide the pair back in time for the clash that promises to end the Gothic War – for the empire’s finest legions are destined to meet Fritigern’s ferocious masses… on the plains of Adrianople. |
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BOOK 6: EMPIRE OF SHADES379 AD: Thracia has fallen to the Gothic horde… With the ashes of Adrianople still swirling in the air, the Eastern Roman Empire is in turmoil. The emperor is dead, the throne lies empty and the remaining fragments of the army are few and scattered. Numerius Vitellius Pavo, now Tribunus of the XI Claudia, tries to hold his patchwork ranks together amidst the storm. One of the few legions to have survived the disaster at Adrianople, the Claudia do what they can to keep alive the dying flame of hope. When word spreads of a new Eastern Emperor, those hopes rise. But the coming of this leader will stir the Gothic War to new heights. And it will cast Pavo headlong into the sights of the one responsible for the East’s plight – a man mighty and seemingly untouchable, and one who will surely crush any who dares to challenge him. From the ashes of Adrianople, new heroes will rise… with dark ghosts in close pursuit. |
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BOOK 7: THE BLOOD ROAD381 AD: The Gothic War draws to a brutal climax, and the victor's name will be written in blood... The great struggle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Gothic Horde rumbles into its fifth year. It seems that there can be no end to the conflict, for although the Goths are masters of the land, they cannot topple the last of the imperial cities. But heralds bring news that might change it all: Emperor Gratian readies to lead his Western legions into the fray, to turn matters on their head, to crush the horde and save the East! The men of the XI Claudia legion long for their homeland’s salvation, but Tribunus Pavo knows these hopes drip with danger. For he and his soldiers are Gratian’s quarry as much as any Goth. The road ahead will be fraught with broken oaths, enemy blades... and tides of blood. |
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BOOK 8: DARK EAGLEWhat hope has one forgotten soldier of bringing an emperor to justice? Winter, 382 AD. The Gothic War is over. After years of bloodshed, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Goths have struck a deal for peace. Imperial heralds crow about the treaty as if it were a triumph. Feasts and celebrations take place across the Eastern provinces. Every hero of the war is honoured and acclaimed... except one. Tribunus Pavo languishes in exile, haunted by a dark truth: that it was Gratian, Emperor of the West – the most powerful man alive – who caused the war and manipulated its every turn. Tormented by memories of loved ones lost during the great conflict, one word tolls endlessly through Pavo’s mind: Justice! But in this great game of empire, justice rarely comes without a grave cost… |
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PREQUEL: EAGLES IN THE DESERT 360 AD: A Roman legion is trapped and surrounded in the blistering Persian desert... and a great saga begins. "Eagles in the Desert was intense and ominous - a fast paced, gory battle tale centred around fathers and sons." |