THE EPIC SEQUEL TO AGRI DECUMATES. IN THE YEAR 86 A.D. After being dismissed from the Praetorian Guard, Aulus Artorius is sent east to Moesia to fight the invading Dacians. As a Decurion, he takes command of an auxiliary cavalry troop and trains it for the coming campaign. The troop is assigned scouting duties for the Seventh Legion, which encounters minimal resistance as they penetrate deep into the Dacian countryside-modern day Romania. Then, days later, the Fifth and Seventh Legions are ambushed by ruthless Dacian warriors. Both legions are slaughtered wholesale. Aulus is gravely wounded and evacuated to Dalmatia. Aulus and a thousand other troops are sent back to Rome for rest and rehabilitation. After an inflamed meeting with the Emperor Domitian, Aulus is discharged from the Army and exiled from Rome. He returns to Germania with his Germani wife, son and infant daughter. Officially retired from the cavalry, Aulus settles into a carefree rural lifestyle, breeding horses and raising a family. He is eventually contacted by his old friend Governor Lucius Saturninus, who revives his plan to overthrow the Emperor of Rome. With the discovery of a hidden cache of gold and Aulus' fealty, Saturninus plots a rebellion. Coercing the Twenty-First and Fourteenth Legions into joining his cause, mainly by seizing their savings accounts, Saturninus delivers an ultimatum to the Emperor and then marches on Rome. Incensed, Domitian mobilizes his Legions and the Praetorian Guard, and decides to confront Saturninus before he invades Italy. What follows is a bloody showdown on the plains of Germania and the slopes of the Alpes. Thousands of troops are slain and the course of Imperial Roman history is threatened. The will and resolve of two mighty Romans is severely tested as the battle rages on, and caught in the middle of all of it, Aulus Artorius Celsus, the greatest cavalryman in all the Roman Army, must sacrifice his ideals and possibly his life, or see Rome fall to ruin and total destruction.*(Originally published under the title "Agri Decumates" ACT IV & V)
About the Author: DEKE D. WAGNER was born in Mississippi and raised in Georgia. The son of an American Air Force sergeant and a German mother from Hesse-Darmstadt, Deke grew up having a keen interest in aviation and his German heritage. At the tender age of ten, he read Manfred von Richthofen's autobiography, Der Rote Kampfflieger (The Red Air Fighter) and has ever since been enthralled with tales of air aces and air combat. After high school and a stint in the Army Reserve, Deke attended art school but made little progress. He spent the next two decades pursuing a semi-professional musical career as a singer/songwriter before attempting his first novel-The Eagle and the Albatros. Deke also enjoys playing guitar and recording original music. He currently resides in Augusta, Georgia. This is his 8th novel.