Gaius Valerius Verrens Book VI. 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. 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. But when he reaches the ring of legionary camps around the seemingly impregnable city of Jerusalem he finds Titus a changed man. 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. 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. Yet the laurels that will regain his honour cannot be won in the negotiations in the murky tunnels beneath Jerusalem. Only amid the fire and blood of battle will he equal the glory that brought him the title Hero of Rome.
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Book II of Gaius Valerius Verrens. Valerius, hailed 'Hero of Rome' is not the man he once was - scarred both physically and emotionally by the battles he has fought. His sister is mortally ill, his father is in self-imposed exile. And Rome is not the city that he left. Nero grows increasingly paranoid. Those seeking power for themselves whisper darkly in the Emperor's ears of a new threat within the walls of Rome - the sect of the followers of Christus, who deny Nero's divinity and who are spreading sedition. Nero calls on Valerius to become the Defender of Rome - to seek out this rebel sect, to capture its leader Petrus. To fail will be to forfeit his life and the lives of twenty thousand Judeans living in Rome. But as Valerius begins his search, he will find that success may cost him as dearly as failure.
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Gaius Valerius Verrens, Book I. The Roman grip on Britain is weakening. Emperor Nero has turned his face away from this far-flung outpost. The Druids are on the rise, spreading seeds of rebellion among the British tribes. Roman cruelty and exploitation has angered their British subjects. The warrior queen Boudicca will lead the tribes to war. Standing against the rising tide of Boudicca's rebellion is Roman Tribune, Gaius Valerius Verrens, Commander of the veteran legions at Colonia. Valerius leads the veterans in a last stand against the unstoppable horde of Boudicca's rebel army. Step by step, the bloodied survivors are forced back into the Temple of Claudius. It is here that Valerius wins lifelong fame and the accolade Hero of Rome. Cover art by Larry Rostant.