Author Description

In 89 A.D., following a failed insurrection by the governor of Upper Germania, the disgraced Legio XXI, Rapax, is dispatched to Pannonia, on the River Danube. The legion is purged of its senior officers and Emperor Domitian appoints the venerable Lucius Flavius Silva as commanding legate. Silva is a revered general, who twenty years prior captured the Herodian Fortress of Masada at the end of the Great Jewish Revolt. Three years later a young staff tribune, Tiberius Artorius Castus, arrives at the legion’s fortress of Carnuntum. Idealistic if a touch naïve, he aspires to the martial legacy of the Artorians who came before him. Acting as his chief mentor is Centurion Primus Ordo Gavius Lucifer. A decorated veteran who rallied a band of loyalists during the Germania revolt in support of Emperor Domitian, he is one of the only senior officers to survive the legion’s leadership purging. Within months of Tiberius’ arrival, indigenous Marcomanni and Quadi tribesmen openly rebel, supported by thousands of their kinsmen north of the Danube. Aiding them is a large contingent of Rhoxolani heavy cavalry. These are led by a Sarmatian general who previously survived being crucified and now seeks vengeance against the Empire. Surrounded and isolated from the rest of the province, Legio XXI engages in a bitter struggle for survival. The emperor orders his best general, Marcus Ulpius Trajan, with a large army from Hispania to crush the rebellion and save the embattled legion. These reinforcements must travel a thousand miles on a trek that will take months. Meanwhile, Silva orders Legio XXI make its stand against their overwhelming adversaries. They march to either victorious redemption or the cold embrace of oblivion.