It is spring 45 AD and Centurions Macro and Cato, dismissed from the Second Legion in Britain, are trapped in Rome, waiting for their involvement in the death of a fellow officer to be investigated. It is then that the imperial secretary, the devious Narcissus, makes them an offer they can't refuse; to rescue an imperial agent who has been captured by pirates operating from the Illyrian coast. With him were scrolls vital to the safety of the Emperor and the future of Rome. However, Narcissus also sends Vitellius, an old enemy of the two centurions. The three officers set out from Ravenna with the imperial fleet but the pirates are forewarned and the Romans pay a heavy price. Outnumbered by the enemy, surrounded by rumours of treachery and endangered by Vitellius' desire to redeem himself, Centurions Macro and Cato must find the pirate base to avert a disaster that could destroy the Emperor.
- ISBN10 075530117X
- ISBN13 9780755301171
- Publish Date 12 September 2005 (first published 1 August 2005)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 21 October 2006
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Headline Publishing Group
- Imprint Headline Book Publishing
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English