Product Description

Simon Scarrow's brilliant adventure novels about the Roman army appear with stunning new covers.

It is 42 AD, and Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived in Germany as a new recruit to the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army. If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn’t difficult enough for the bookish young man, he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when, because of his imperial connections, he is appointed a rank above them. As second-in-command to Macro, the fearless, battle-scarred centurion who leads them, Cato will have more to prove than most in the adventures that lie ahead. Then the men discover that the army’s next campaign will take them to a land of unparalleled barbarity - Britain. After the long march west, Cato and Macro undertake a special mission that will thrust them headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself...

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2002 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
'Everyone has been raving about the film GLADIATOR, but Cato's story is its equal in bloody cut and thrust and has the bonus of conspiracy and intrigue to give it extra flavour' -- Northern Echo

A British high-school history teacher goes down, down, down into the world of Roman legions attacking Britain, getting into fine military nitty-gritty"." Politics and military maneuvers jointly shape newcomer Scarrow's mighty plot. In the prologue, invading Romans, driven back by the barbarians, can't drag a heavy chest of loot through the ooze of a bog; their general orders them to sink it into the mud, and a soldier makes a wax map so it can be recovered by a later expedition. The story begins a century later, during a renewed invasion in ad 42, when everything hinges on a precious scroll of the map. Whoever digs up the chest may well find himself on the way to being Emperor. As in any tale of politics and empire, spies and traitors abound. We follow the rise of Macro, an illiterate soldier risen to the important rank of centurion in the Second Legion. Training legionnaires takes the iron strength and fabulously foul mouth of a Parris Island drill sergeant, and a centurion must be able to inspire his men to hold fast and die should worst come to worst. Macro's footing as an officer remains unstable. Should his illiteracy be found out-and caring for his 80 men involves a nightmarish number of administrative duties-he'll be demoted back to the ranks. The Emperor Claudius, in need of a success in Britain to nail down his empire, sends a message to the legate Vespasian: new recruit Cato is a freedman and should be made an officer. Before sailing to Britain, Cato teaches Macro to read and write. Meanwhile, ambitious Vitellius, moral Vespasian, and his light-fingered wife Flavia have their eyes on the throne once Claudius dies and his heirs hastily succumb. Much depends on the power of wealth flowing from the chest waiting in British mud. A warmly welcome sequel looks assured. (Kirkus Reviews)

Review
'Everyone has been raving about the film GLADIATOR, but Cato's story is its equal in bloody cut and thrust and has the bonus of conspiracy and intrigue to give it extra flavour' (Northern Echo )

About the Author
Simon Scarrow is a former teacher who now devotes himself to writing full time. He lives outside Norwich with his family.

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Customer Reviews

Brilliant new series
I am an avid historical fiction fan, and in my search for a new author (as I have finished all the Cornwell, Iggulden and Manfredi books) I found Simon Scarrow. This is the first in an excellent series of novels about 2 unlikely friends thrown together in the heat of battle in the Roman army. These books are well researched, well written and extremely easy to read. These are like a cross between Cornwell's Sharpe and the Rome TV series. An excellent read!

Prepare to buy more in the series as rather addictive.
I am no literary critic, but I do know what I like, and this series of books fills a nice niche for me.
I have always enjoyed Roman historical facts, and yes there is a hint of some in these books, but they are not definitive articles, nor claim to be.
They are what can be best termed "easy reading" and that suits me fine as they help me to relax, as they fall into the category of - enjoy a good read.
The two main characters have a good mixture, of rogue, devilment, ethics, and never say die, about them.
There are enough sub-plots to keep me overall interested, and written in today's vernacular, which at first I thought strange, but just accept and the storyline then free wheels neatly along.

So book 1 meet the characters
Book 2 set the scene on various plots now and for the future,
Book 3 and subsequent books, off and running.

I can imagine extracts from the series would lend themselves to a good movie, so will predict here that we will see one, in next few years.

This is poor but read on...
I am putting the same review on this book and Scarrow's latest one in the series, "Centurion". Now this one is poor; poorly written, bog-standard charactarisation and ho-hum action scenes, but...

By the time you get to "Centurion" we have an author who has settled into his style, still basic, but eminently readable, with the author's research and expertise in the subject lightly spread amongst the plot and the expansion of the major characters into almost loveable specimens.

So for those of you reading this review in "Under the Eagle" stick with this series, it gets way better.