The Wall

AD 400. Rome and its Empire are failing . . .

Veteran cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor sets out with his regiment to make what may be his final tour of the forts along Hadrian's Wall.

Through a combination of military prowess, brutality and bribery, Marcus has spent twenty years keeping the savage Picts at bay. He is feared by his enemies and hated by his superiors, but it is his strength of will that has held the disgruntled, poorly paid garrisons of the Wall in place as the Roman Empire's grip on Britannia weakened.

Yet as this tour of the wall progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that this is much more than a routine inspection. Why is Marcus stripping the defences of cavalry to strengthen his own force? Is he negotiating with the Picts or conspiring with them? And who is the mysterious 'blood-father' who lurks in the shadows?

Segeduno, Cilurno, Brocolitia, Vindolanda: each fort holds a memory, an old friend, hides a rival, or an outright enemy, and it now seems Marcus will betray or cheat any of them to achieve his goal. But what is Marcus Flavius Victor's ultimate objective?

Is he building an army to save Britannia. Or is he willing to risk a bloody civil war to seize the province for himself?

A journalist by profession, Douglas Jackson transformed a lifelong fascination for Rome and the Romans in to his first two highly-praised novels, Caligula and Claudius. His third, Hero of Rome, introduced readers to a new series hero, Gaius Valerius Verrens. Seven further novels featuring Valerius have followed - the most recent being Glory of Rome - and have won critical acclaim and confirm their author as one of the UK's foremost historical novelists. An active member of the Historical Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society, Douglas Jackson lives near Stirling in Scotland.