The first novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Roman series.
It is 42 AD, and Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived in Germany as a new recruit to the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army.
If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn't difficult enough for the bookish young man, he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when, because of his imperial connections, he is appointed a rank above them.
As second-in-command to Macro, the fearless, battle-scarred centuri.
