As ever, the level of historical research is astounding and the pace is frenetic. The ending had me gasping and the twenty-second book cannot come soon enough!

This eventful Roman historical adventure is the 21st volume of the wonderful "Eagle of the Empire" series, featuring Cato & Macro. Later on in the series, (Centurion) we get to see Cato fall in love again, this time with the daughter of a senator called Julia. Julia and her father had been trapped in a citadel but they survived. She promises Cato that she will get married to him at the end of “Centurion”. Secondly, there was a real issue with the language. It was not simply the plethora of vituperations that peppered the text and may well have had a certain accuracy in conveying the men’s brutal attitudes, it was the inaccuracy of the character’s dialogue. The way in which they spoke about sex was peculiar– at one point Macro tells Cato not to consider him a ‘bum bandit’ for instance. Not only is this implicitly offensive to a modern audience, but it is quite the antithesis of the Roman attitude to homosexuality where it was often considered a normal part of life and where men frequently engaged in homosexual relations given the fact that many spent virtually their entire lives in the male exclusive military as was so sensitively depicted by Miller. The modernity of their language and attitudes was simply not in keeping with the time of the novel. Even in referring to Britain and Germany under these terms was inaccurate as this is not how the Germanic tribes or Goths were perceived at all. I found the descriptions of life in Britain in the I century very interesting and they made me wish I know more about the lifestyle.You are also treated to the inner workings of the Roman Army and the thought processes involved, you see a sense of forlorn hoplesness and foreboding of what is to come within the Romans, afterall they are facing an army in the thousands Cato and Macro series, otherwise known as Eagle series is a book series written by Simon Scarrow. This book series focuses on the history of ancient Rome, from around AD 42, but specifically on the experiences and adventures of two major characters of the book, Quintus Licinius Cato and Lucius Cornelius Macro, in their military and political world.

Their next campaign will be the invasion of Britannia with the Roman army, until in Britannia they will stumble into a conspiracy to overthrow the Emperor. All in all, I found it entertaining and educational. I thought there were one or two wobbly components to the plot, and certainly one occasion where I thought a legion commander would have been rather more ruthless in finding the truth than he was when questioning a slave! I also guessed who the ‘spy’ in the camp was well ahead of the reveal and I’m one of the world’s slowest to see such things. Maybe it was intended, in that case. Bound together more by their hatred of Rome than anything else, the rebel tribes take brutal and bloody revenge on the Roman settlements they pass through. Whipped up into a religious frenzy by their Druids, their treatment of prisoners is especially cruel and merciless. Those who are squeamish may wish to skip a couple of the scenes.The Honour of Rome again ponitless perhaps a book could have been written on the rebellion in Brigantia in 58 AD.

El protagonista es un ex-esclavo de 17 años que vivía en palacio en los primeros años del emperador Claudio y al que hace libre a costa de tener que ingresar en la legión. El chaval tiene cultura por eso de haber vivido entre cultos peo es poca cosa y parece un poco apocado. Y así empieza la cosa. Death to the Emperor is a captivating book full of heroism and sacrifice that brings Boudica and the Iceni vividly to life. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series. Let's talk about Under The Eagle by Simon Scarrow. It's good, in a sort of balls-to-the-wall way. Having read this before, I knew what to expect. Blood, betrayal, lots of swearing and gladius slashing fun. With any historical novel, there's a fine line between historical accuracy and story-telling. Conn Iggulden, as much as I respect him for taking on Caesar is a fine example of bad story-telling set against historical accuracy (which in part is well researched). Simon Scarrow doesn't pretend to be 'historical accurate', yes it is accurate in the sense of being set within the reign of Claudius-I've-The-Mind-Of-A-Child-And-The-Eating-Habit-Of-A-Ox. Yes it is accurate given the timeline, the invasion of Britain was what solidified Claudius's Emperor-ship - without it, he would have been history (ironic).

Publication Order of Eagle Books

The novel is set in AD43 and involves the heroes in our legion attempting to invade Britain. Behind the scenes there's plenty of murky political plotting going on, and Scarrow gets plenty of mileage out of the sinister machinications. Half the game is trying to figure out who bears what hidden allegiance and then seeing if you're right. It all gets rather complicated but not uninteresting. With the aim of attracting more readers, the publishers of the series had decided to drop the word Eagle from the title of the series in the year 2007. However, the idea seemed to be quite absurd and they decided to continue with the same title.

But can they win against the Roman army. Much smaller in number but trained like a well oiled machine.To me whilst this is a work of Historical fiction don’t be fooled into thinking I don’t read that genre so the book won’t be for me, it transcends that, revel in the quality of the writing and storytelling, engage with the characters and be prepared to take a glorious journey with two of the Romans finest and bravest Cato and Marco There’s a reason Schenke has been selected – he’s not a member of the Nazi Party and is only tolerated for his glamorous past racing cars, an illustrious career that ended in a crash. If this case should uncover demons, then Schenke will make the perfect scapegoat. Then, as the nights draw even darker, another woman is murdered and the pressure on Schenke mounts. PLAYING WITH DEATH On the other hand, Cato is just a teenager, who previously grew up as a slave in the Imperial Palace. At the start of the series, he joins as Macro’s Optio in the Eagles. The first book of the series is set in 42 A.D. Throughout the series, author Simon Scarrow has shared the experiences of Macro and Cato. If you find yourself looking for better accounts of ancient warfare there are quite a few good authors out there. Christian Cameron is the best, although all his ancient world series ( Tyrant, Long War, and Commander) are all set in the Greek world. For Rome you have Ben Kane's Eagles and Clash of Empires. I find Kane frustratingly uninterested in nonmilitary topics, but he does at least understand them. Preston Holtry's Arrius books are an often underlooked series. And Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome books are what you get when you cross a gifted novelist with a genuine historian. All come highly recommended.