The bad – I only have three more books to go. So, the good news is, I am 2/3 of the way through the series. His larger than life characters are a joy to get acquainted with, and the historical aspect is certainly enhanced by them. It isn’t easy keeping a series of this many books fresh, creative, interesting….but the author is up to the challenge. The sixth episode – well, if you’re this far along in the series, you already know how brilliant it is. Only amid the fire and blood of battle will he equal the glory that brought him the title Hero of Rome. Yet the laurels that will regain his honour cannot be won in the negotiations in the murky tunnels beneath Jerusalem. Soon, Valerius finds himself at the centre of a web of intrigue spun by Titus’s lover, Queen Berenice of Cilicia, and her sometime ally, the general’s turncoat adviser, Flavius Josephus, who have an ulterior motive for ending the siege quickly. Gone is the cheerful young officer he knew, replaced by a tough, ruthless soldier under pressure from his father to end the insurrection at any cost. Valerius knows his only hope of long term survival and a restoration of his family’s fortunes lie with his friend Titus, commander of the Army of Judaea and son of the newly crowned Emperor Vespasian.īut when he reaches the ring of legionary camps around the seemingly impregnable city of Jerusalem he finds Titus a changed man. Disgraced, dishonoured and banished into exile on pain of execution if he ever returns to Rome, the former military tribune Gaius Valerius Verrens makes his way East through the death and destruction of the savage Judaean rebellion. A powerful enemy, a burning temple and divided loyalties all stand in his way, but the prize that awaits has never been more worthwhile.70AD. On the way he must battle through a maze of distrust, corruption, bloody conflict and betrayal, with as many perils behind as there are in front. The only way Valerius can survive to reach Rome and be united with his lost love Domitia Longina Corbulo is to ally himself with Vitellius' enemies. But a new challenge arises in the East where Titus Flavius Vespasian has been declared Emperor by his legions. Valerius' old friend, Aulus Vitellius, victor in the decisive confrontation that left Otho's armies shattered, sits uneasily on a golden throne in Rome, and his rival is dead by his own hand. It is the summer of AD 69 and after a year of slaughter and turmoil the Empire remains trapped in the coils of a desperate, destructive civil war. Wrongly accused by enemies on his own side, Valerius is destined to die a coward's death for deserting his legion on the field of Bedriacum.

In the dry heat of an August morning Gaius Valerius Verrens wakes filthy and bearded and prepares for his last day on earth.

Enemy of rome douglas jackson