検索キーワード： 著者 "J. Clifton Slater" すべてのカテゴリー

Welcome to summer 258 B.C.

The Second Punic War made gamblers of the Mediterranean world. Declare for Carthage or declare for Rome? The odds are 50/50 for life or death.

Welcome to the spring of 258 BC. The expanding war with the Qart Hadasht Empire is changing the Republic's military supply structure. Supplying scattered Legions and far-flung naval squadrons is overextending the provincial quartermaster system. Growing awkwardly to handle the needs, the military organizations are evolving, slowly. Now evil men have found a way to profit from the disorganization.

Cornelius Scipio and Jace Kasia were passionate about their missions, but on a collision course. Unfortunately, one would have to lose for the other to accomplish his goal. As a staff officer, Tribune Cornelius Scipio had experienced more combat and defeat than men twice his age. Now, as a youth of twenty-years-old, this veteran thirsted for a command of his own.

The heart and life of a battle is the center of the combat line. A dark, throbbing, and terrifying place. A place where death prowls between enemy shields, waiting for sharp blades to carve out an advantage. Welcome to 262 B.C. A single Legion is rushed into combat to stop a fortified army. The clash between Empire and Republic thrusts thousands of Legionaries into a nasty epicenter of conflict.

There are anxious words to describe being in unfathomable trouble. A feeling of pressure, an emotion of being in over-your-head, and a sense of being smothered. Legion Centurion Alerio Sisera was drowning in the sea and experiencing all of them. From black, to gray, to green water overhead, Alerio transitioned through the ocean layers as he swam upward. Lungs screaming for air, and his chest heaving, his body threatened to take in a breath. It became a competition between the urges of his lungs

Infantry tactics at a sea battle offer dangerous options. Run the boarding ramp into the tips of the enemy's blades. Or fall into the gap between warships. Welcome to 260 B.C. Death waits at both, but if you make it to the enemy's deck you have a fighting chance. With the sea, you are doomed by the weight of your armor as soon as you splash down. There is another option: Be the first Legionary to board an enemy ship. You might surprise and disrupt the Empire soldiers. And win medals and accolades. Or you might die as an unjust sacrifice.

Hannibal Barca moved through the countryside burning, looting, and attracting recruits and supplies from disgruntled city residents and tribesmen. Cornelius Scipio remained with the forward Legions, taking any position available. It spoke well of his loyalty, but his actions hid a deeper secret. Cornelius feared the Scipio men would be accused of being cowards. Jace Kasia had no family but had a goal to be recognized as a Cretan archer. On the banks of Lake Trasimene, he earned the position of File Leader.

Welcome to 259 B.C. By law, all debts must be paid by the Ides of March. For men like them, sharp steel was the only acceptable currency. Unless something changed, one would emerge a winner and the other the guest of honor at a funeral. Blood payment might not have been the official objective. But it would not matter to an enraged Alerio Sisera as he clutched a gladius and held a temple voucher aloft.

"I've heard Cretan archers are good bowmen but weak skirmishers," a Tribune offered. "It has something to do with the teeny, tiny shields they wear like jewelry on their left forearms." "They wear jewelry into combat," Tribune Scipio moaned. "What have I done?" Set in the desperate years of the Second Punic War, the series follows the exploits of Cretan archer Jace Kasia and Roman Legion Tribune Cornelius Scipio. One is a castaway searching for a home while the other seeks to step out of the shadow of a famous father.