"Interesting historical fiction"

Over two centuries old Hadrian's Wall was built to keep the feral Celtic tribes away from easy attacks on the Roman fortresses. However, the Roman Empire seems weaker than ever to the Celtics, especially Chieftain Arden Caratacus, who wants the invaders off the island. His enemy amoral brilliant tactician Senior Tribune Galba Brassidias understands the Wall and the people on both sides of it as he leads the deadly Petriana cavalry in keeping the Celts at bay.

Feeling he earned the position, Galba expects his success and his loyalty will have Rome name him in charge. Instead he learns that an island born Roman citizen is beneath those born in Rome for an aristocratic scholar Marcus Flavius arrives to take charge of the Petriana. Marcus is accompanied by the even more blue-blooded fiancée to Lady Valeria. Knowing that he is a victim of prejudice, an angry Galba pretends loyalty to his new Commander while encouraging Arden to attack. Marcus is a helpless warrior. Only Valeria, who has fallen in love with the dynamic Arden, might stop a bloody war.

The story is actually told in flashback form by a Roman investigation into what happened at the Wall in 368 AD. That technique not only adds to the sense of history that readers will feel, but sounds so eerily close to how western nations look back at scandal and traumatic events. The story line is action packed and the audience will feel they are trudging alongside Inspector Draco as he makes inquiries. The prime foursome seems genuine especially in their interactions; they and the support cast furbish readers with a powerful Ancient Rome tale that will elate historical novel readers.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 27, 2004

Summary

The Wall. When the Roman emperor Hadrian first envisioned the awesome edifice in A.D. 122, he used stone, wood, and iron to shield Roman Britannia forever from the unconquered Celtic barbarians. Stretching over seventy milesto divide the island, Hadrian's Wall has maintained the security of the Roman Empire's northern outpost for more than two hundred years. Now a Roman bride has come who will unleash jealousy, passion, and an epic war that will shake a tired and tottering empire to its core. Tribune Marcus Flavius has secured command at the Wall not through battles fought or wars won, but through his arranged marriage to Valeria, a senator's daughter. He replaces a brutal veteran, Galba Brassidias, an ambitious soldier whose skill in battle is rivaled only by his Machiavellian brilliance. But Galba will do anything it takes to regain his position and dominate the young woman who fascinates and infuriates him. The intrigue on the Roman side of the Wall is matched by the plotting of Celtic warriors determined to rid their land of the invaders. They are led by the dynamic and mysterious barbarian chieftain Arden Caratacus, a man who seems to know as much about hated Rome as he does of his own people, and who is determined to win the young woman for himself. Theirs is a story of swirling emotions, ancient warfare, desperate romance, and the final great clash of Roman and Celtic cultures. All will be decided on the field of battle, where the fate of an empire may rest in the strength of Hadrian's Wall.