Showing results by author "James Mace" in All Categories

A year has passed since the end of the Gallic rebellion of Sacrovir and Florus. Retribution has been exacted, and the province is at peace once more. And yet, there are some who escaped Rome's justice. They are led by a man whose heart burns with hate; an heir to rebellion. Knowing that there can be no victory against the legions, his vengeance can only be wrought through terror and murder. The Gallic city of Lugdunum will be the first to taste his wrath.

It has been three years since the wars against Arminius and the Cherusci. Gaius Silius, legate of the 20th Legion, is concerned that the barbarians - though shattered by the war - may be stirring once again. He also seeks to confirm the rumors regarding Arminius' death. What Silius does not realize is that there is a new threat to the empire, but it does not come from beyond the frontier; it is coming from within, where a disenchanted nobleman looks to sow the seeds of rebellion in Gaul.

It is April of 69 A.D., and Rome’s first civil war in a hundred years has ended. Emperor Otho, who violently overthrew the tyrannical Galba just three months before, is dead. The triumphant armies of the Rhine coerce the senate into ratifying their governor, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor. While there is an uneasy hope that peace has returned to Rome, Vitellius’ cronyism and utter incompetence soon alienates most of Rome’s patricians, along with many of the provinces.

After decades of strife and a pair of bloodily savage wars, the Kingdom of Dacia is no more. With King Decebalus dead, and the surviving members of the royal family in captivity, an uneasy peace descends upon the new Roman Province of Dacia. The senate and people of Rome eagerly expect the return of the victorious Emperor Trajan. With equal eagerness, the people await the legendary great Dacian treasury, said to equal hundreds of tons in gold and silver, making its way to Rome.

The year is 115 A.D. After two years of conquest, Emperor Caesar Traianus has annexed both Armenia and vassal kingdoms of northern Mesopotamia. His gaze turns south, his armies poised to march down the Tigris and Euphrates. Parthian resistance evaporates before his legions, like water drops incinerated by the burning desert sun. Soon, the ancient Kingdoms of Babylon and Mesopotamia will fall under the eagles. Tiberius Artorius Castus, Dux of Britannia, marches with Trajan.

Four years after their departure for the east, the armies of Rome are bloodied and exhausted. Their victories against the Parthian Empire came at great cost. As Emperor Trajan stood upon the shores of the Persian Gulf, insurrections erupted amongst the Jewish populations of Cyrenaica, Egypt, Cyprus, and Syria. These were inflamed by uprisings across the newly conquered regions of Mesopotamia. Though Trajan defeated Parthia’s armies in the field, the campaign ended with a humiliating failed siege at Hatra. Disease wreaked havoc upon the imperial army, including the emperor himself.

The year is 118 A.D. More than five years have passed since Tiberius Artorius Castus, Dux Britannica, departed to fight beside Emperor Trajan against the Parthian Empire. At his command was the legionary and auxilia division, Exercitus Britannica, known to the men in the ranks as Minerva’s Spear. Crossing the breadth of the Empire, they battled across the frozen mountains of Armenia, through the scorching wastes of Mesopotamia, before recapturing Cyprus during the catastrophic uprising across the Jewish diaspora. Their numbers depleted, the survivors exhausted, they are eager to return home.

For twelve years a disgraceful pall has hung over the Roman Empire. Trouble along the Germanic frontier forced an abrupt end to Emperor Domitian’s war against King Decebalus of Dacia. The terms were an embarrassment to Rome and a drain on the imperial coffers, with two million denarii paid to the Dacians every year. Now, a new Caesar is firmly ensconced upon the imperial throne. Emperor Trajan vows to subjugate the Dacians, humble their king, and restore honour to the Empire.

It’s been forty years since the Roman conquest of southern Britannia. The hostile western regions are at last subdued and twenty years have passed since the cataclysmic Iceni Rebellion in the east. With tribal kingdoms assimilating into Roman culture and the province at relative peace, Imperial Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola turns his attention north. The once-allied, now hostile Kingdom of Brigantes is divided between factions loyal to Rome and those of the usurper king, Venutius.

Four years have passed since the Roman invasion of Britannia. Though the imperial legions won a number of spectacular victories, the imperial governor, Ostorius Scapula, realizes that Emperor Claudius declared victory far too soon. An ever-volatile land, hostile forces exist even amongst loyalists and allies. To the north the allied kingdom of the Brigantes is on the verge of civil war, while to the west Rome’s old nemesis, Caratacus, has returned. A former prince of the conquered Catuvellauni, he seeks revenge for the death of his brother and the subjugation of their people.

On the mist-shrouded Isle of Hibernia, now known as Ireland, 26 years have passed since the murder of the high king, Fiacha Finnolach. The usurper Elim of Ulster’s promises of peace and prosperity have come to naught, as drought and famine afflict the land. Across the Irish Sea, the Roman Governor of Britannia, Julius Agricola, is met with an intriguing proposition. Fiacha’s son, Tuathal Techtmar, born when his pregnant mother fled into exile, has grown to manhood. He seeks the aid of Rome in avenging his father and becoming High King of Hibernia.

The year is 104 A.D. Two years have passed since King Decebalus knelt in submission to Emperor Trajan. The recent war between Rome and Dacia was brutal and costly for both sides. The graves of many thousands lie between the River Danube and the gates of Sarmizegetusa.

Duty bound to save the Empire from falling further under a tyrannical usurper, Cursor resolves to unravel the conspiracy and bring the perpetrators to justice. Aiding him is an old friend; a retired Master Centurion named Gaius Calvinus. Regrettably, they know that if successful, Tiberius' retribution will be swift and brutal, sparing neither the innocent nor the guilty. This leaves only two dark paths for Cursor and Calvinus; either allow the pending reign of terror under a ruthless usurper, or unleash the unholy vengeance of an emperor betrayed.

In June of 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte's attempts at reclaiming the French Empire are destroyed on the field of Waterloo. With the Bourbon monarchy restored to the throne of France, King Louis XVIII seeks his revenge against many of Napoleon's former generals. While many are sent into exile, the fanatical royalists demand that one in particular pay with his life. That man is Michel Ney, Marshal of France; called by both friend an enemy as "The Bravest of the Brave".

The year is 77 AD. On the frontier of the Roman Empire, a Dacian man named Verus is captured and enslaved during an imperial raid north of the Danube. He is sent to a rock quarry known as The Pit, as one among thousands of fresh slaves needed to mine marble for Emperor Vespasian's new amphitheater. Funded by spoils taken during the Siege of Jerusalem, the Emperor promises it will be the largest gladiatorial arena ever; his personal gift to the people of Rome. Requiring years of herculean labor and millions of cubic feet in stone, Vespasian's son, Titus, worries if his father will live.