THE BOOK

Leon lives with his master Beat. They look after his father’s flock, protecting them from wolves. The Roman armies often frequent their village. On one of these visits, Leon and Beat joined the Roman army. He was promised an early promotion to Centurion. Just before they left to fight the Franks, Beat was called to a meeting with the other Centurions and their Primi Ordines Gaius Ahala. They were told that they would leave with the main army, but at a given point, move north to Germania. Christianity was now the religion of the Roman Empire. A tribe of Pagans in Germania had started to slaughter Christians, often as human sacrifices.

They, a cohort of about 1000 men, would break away from the main army and move to confront this tribe, free the Christians, then punish the tribe. To get to this tribe, they would have to avoid confrontation with other tribes on the journey, as they would require all of their soldiers to be fighting fit when they finally made contact.

READ AN EXCERPT