Empire Series (Books 1-4) - Anthony Riches

Wounds of Honour (Empire 1)

Marcus Valerius Aquila has scarcely landed in Britannia when he has to run for his life - condemned to dishonorable death by power-crazed Emperor Commodus. The plan is to take a new name, serve in an obscure regiment on Hadrian's Wall and lie low until he can hope for justice. Then a rebel army sweeps down from the wastes north of the Wall, and Marcus has to prove he's hard enough to lead a century in the front line of a brutal, violent war.


Arrows of Fury (Empire 2)
The Battle of the Lost Eagle saved Hadrian's Wall, but the new Roman governor of Britannia must stamp out the rebellion of the northern tribes or risk losing the province. Rampaging south with sword and flame under the command of their murderous chieftain Calgus, they have stretched his forces to the limit. For Marcus - now simply Centurion Corvus of the 1st Tungrian cohort - the campaign has become doubly dangerous. As reinforcements flood into Britannia he is surrounded by new officers with no reason to protect him from the emperor's henchmen. Death could result from a careless word as easily as from an enemy spear Worse, one of them is close on his heels. While Marcus is training two centuries of Syrian archers to survive a barbarian charge and then take the fight back to their enemy, the new prefect of the 2nd Tungrians has discovered his secret. Only a miracle can save Marcus and the men who protect him from disgrace and death.

Anthony Riches once again brings meticulous research together with brilliant storytelling to capture the authentic feel of what life was like for the Roman Army in a brutal war with a remorseless enemy.


Fortress of Spears (Empire 3)

The battle for Hadrian's Wall has been won but the enemy is not destroyed. Calgus, the rebel war leader, has retreated deep into his people's northern territory. The new Roman leader makes an audacious plan to take the legions—and more important, the cavalry—north to their strongholds. Marcus Aquila, disguised as Centurion Corvus, is caught up in the campaign even though it will mean constant danger of being discovered by his family's enemies. His protectors, though, are powerful.


The Leopard Sword (Empire 4)

The Empire series begins a new era—Marcus has fled from Britannia, but the emperor's henchmen are still on his trail

Britannia has been subdued—and the murderous Roman agents who nearly captured Marcus Valerius Aquila, alias Corvus, have been defeated by his friends. But in order to protect those very friends from the wrath of the emperor, Marcus must leave the province which has been giving him shelter. He travels to the Tungrian auxiliary legion's headquarters in northern Gaul where a different kind of war and very different dangers await him.