Author Description

While waiting to escort the Constantine fiancée of Emperor Gratian to marriage in Treverorum, spy boss Marcus Numidianus witnesses the murder of a Quadi king attending an official Roman banquet. A revenge attack on Constantia Postuma's nuptial cortège is a warning that the policy of Gratian's father, Emperor Valentinian, to beef up the Danube's defenses is only inflaming barbarian savagery. The ageing Valentinian is also juggling too many would-be successors at court. He longs for one impartial advisor and Marcus finds himself jockeying between the factions slavering for control over the western Roman Empire. When sudden disaster strikes, Marcus plays the political game of his career so that the legitimate heir might prevail-but the veteran spy's tactics cost him dearly. Packed with action and intrigue, the Embers of Empire series takes the reader into the Valentinian Dynasty of the late 4th century to delight fans of Bernard Cornwell, Lindsey Davis, and Robert Harris.