Book 1

Fire in the East

by Harry Sidebottom

Published 29 September 2009

Book 2

King of Kings

by Harry Sidebottom

Published 1 August 2010

Book 3

Lion of the Sun

by Harry Sidebottom

Published 1 September 2011

Book 4

The Caspian Gates

by Harry Sidebottom

Published 1 November 2011

Book 5


Book 6

The Amber Road

by Harry Sidebottom

Published 1 September 2013

The Caspian Gates is the fourth in Harry Sidebottom's captivating Warrior of Rome Series.

AD262 - the Imperium is in turmoil after the struggle for the throne. Furthermore, Ephesus, Asia's metropolis, lies in ruins, shattered by a mighty earthquake. Its citizens live in fear as the mob overwhelms the city, baying for blood to avenge the gods who have punished them.

Yet an even greater threat to the Empire advances from the North. The barbaric Goth tribes sail towards Ephesus, determined to pillage the city. Only Ballista, Warrior of Rome, knows the ways of the barbarians, and only he can defeat them.

The Goths' appetite for brutality and destruction is limitless and before long Ballista is locked into a deadly bloodfeud, with an enemy that has sworn to destroy him - and the Imperium - at all costs.

Dr Harry Sidebottom is a leading authority on ancient warfare - he applies his knowledge with a spectacular flair for sheer explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama. Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Sidebottom's recreation of the ancient world.

Praise for Harry Sidebottom:
'Sidebottom's prose blazes with searing scholarship' The Times
'The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction' Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy

Dr. Harry Sidebottom is Fellow of St Benets Hall, and Lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford - where he specializes in ancient warfare and classical art.



AD 255 – the Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, its authority and might challenged throughout the territories and along every border. Yet the most lethal threat lurks far to the east in Persia, where the massing forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace. The far-flung and isolated citadel of Arête faces out across the wasteland, awaiting the inevitable invasion.

One man is sent to marshall the defences of this lonely city – one man to shore up the crumbling walls of a once indomitable symbol of Roman power – a man whose name itself means war, a man called Ballista. Alone, Ballista is called to muster the forces and the courage to stand first and to stand hard against the greatest enemy ever to confront the Imperium.

In the bestselling tradition of Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden, comes a block-busting voice in historical adventure fiction.

Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North by Harry Sidebottom marks the start of a new trilogy within the Warrior of Rome series.

AD263 - barbarian invasions and violent uprisings threaten to tear apart the Imperium of Rome.

In the north, the tribes are increasingly bold in their raids on the Imperium - their savagery unlike anything Rome has known before. Ballista must undertake his most treacherous journey yet - a covert attempt to turn the barbarians of the steppe against each other. He must face the Heruli - the most bizarre and brutal of all the nomad tribes - the Eaters of Flesh, the Wolves of the North. As Ballista and his retinue make their journey, someone - or something - is hunting them, picking them off one by one, and leaving a trail of terror and mutilated corpses.

Ballista is in a strange land, among strange people, but is it possible that the greatest threat may come from within his own familia?

Dr Harry Sidebottom is a leading authority on ancient warfare - he applies his knowledge with a spectacular flair for sheer explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama. Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Sidebottom's recreation of the ancient world.

Praise for Harry Sidebottom:
'Sidebottom's prose blazes with searing scholarship' The Times
'The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction' Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy

Dr. Harry Sidebottom is Fellow of St Benets Hall, and Lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford - where he specializes in ancient warfare and classical art.

Warrior of Rome: The Amber Road is the sixth book in Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome series.


AD 264 - The Roman Empire is torn in two.

The western provinces - Gaul, Spain and Britain - have been seized by the pretender Postumus. To the east, on the plains of northern Italy, the armies of the emperor Gallienus muster.

War is coming.

Everyone must choose a side.

On a mission shrouded in secrecy and suspicion, Ballista must journey The Amber Road to the far north to Hyperborea, back to his original home and the people of his birth.

A fearsome, masked warlord attacks, bringing fire and sword against the Angles. Yet not all welcome Ballista`s return.

Does treachery pose the greatest danger?

Dr Harry Sidebottom is a leading authority on ancient warfare - he applies his knowledge with a spectacular flair for sheer explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama. Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Sidebottom's recreation of the ancient world.

Praise for Harry Sidebottom:

'Sidebottom's prose blazes with searing scholarship' The Times

'The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction' Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy

Dr. Harry Sidebottom is Fellow of St Benets Hall, and Lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford - where he specializes in ancient warfare and classical art.

Mesopotamia, AD 260

Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, the Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. The shame of the vanquished beats down mercilessly like the white sun, as the frail old emperor prostrates himself before Shapur, King of Kings.

Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. One day, maybe not soon, but one day, I will kill you . . . But first he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom.

Only the fearless and only those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending.

Ballista, the Warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet.

AD256 - the spectre of treachery hangs ominously over the Roman Empire. The sparks of Christian fervour have spread through the empire like wildfire, and the imperium is alive with the machinations of dangerous and powerful men.

All the while, Sassanid forces press forward relentlessly along the eastern frontier. The battle-bloodied general Ballista returns to the imperial court from the fallen city of Arete - only to find that there are those who would rather see him dead than alive.

Ballista is soon caught in a sinister web of intrigue and religious fanaticism . . . his courage and loyalty will be put to the ultimate test in the service of Rome and the Emperor.

The Warrior of Rome is back . . .