Defender of Rome: (Gaius Valerius Verrens 2)

The second Valerius Verrens book delivers a powerful mix of gripping historical research with first class storytelling

Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the successful campaign against Boudicca in Britain. Now hailed a "Hero of Rome," Valerius is not the man he once was—he is physically and emotionally battle-scarred, while his sister is mortally ill and his father in self-imposed exile. Nor is Rome the same city as the one he left. The Emperor Nero grows increasingly paranoid. Those who seek power for themselves whisper darkly in the emperor's ears of a new threat, one found within the walls of Rome itself. A new religious sect, the followers of Christus, deny Nero's divinity and are rumored to be spreading sedition. Nero calls on his "Hero of Rome" to become a "Defender of Rome," seeking out this rebel sect and capturing their leader, a man known as Petrus. Failure would be to forfeit his life and those of 20,000 Judaeans living in Rome. But as Valerius begins his search, he discovers that success may cost him nearly as much as failure.

Douglas Jackson is the author of Caligula and Claudius.