Fire and Sword
‘Absorbing and brilliant … Game of Thrones without the dragons’ THE TIMESThe third book in Sidebottom’s epic series set in third century Rome; a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war.Rome AD238. The Year of the Six Emperors.The empire is in turmoil. With the Gordiani, father and son, dead in Africa, the tyrant Maximinus Thrax vies to reclaim the throne.The Senate, who supported the revolt of the Gordiani, must act quickly to avoid the vengeance of Maximinus. They elect two Senators to share the imperial purple. But fighting erupts in the streets as ambitious men call for violent revolution.Can the new Augusti hold the city together as the empire’s farthest territories fight off bloody attacks from the Goths and the Persians in the east?In the north of Italy, Maximinus descends on Aquileia. Against the odds, Menophilus, an old friend of the younger Gordian, prepares to defend the town. In one of the greatest sieges of the empire, its fate will be decided in a fight for victory, for revenge, for Rome.Filled with intrigue, betrayal and bloody battle, Fire & Sword creates a magnificent world built on brutality and political games, where no one is safe from retribution – not even those who dare to rule.
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Copyright © Harry Sidebottom 2016
Maps © John Gilkes 2016
Jacket design Claire Ward, © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016 Jacket photographs © Stephen Mulcahey /Arcangel Images (army, sword); Shutterstock.com (all other images)
Harry Sidebottom asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
While some of the events and characters are based on historical incidents and figures, this novel is entirely a work of fiction.
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Source ISBN 9780007499922
Ebook Edition © MAY 2016 ISBN: 9780007499946
Version: 2017-01-19
To Richard Marshall
An empty pageant; a stage play; flocks of sheep, herds of cattle; a tussle of spearmen; a bone flung among a pack of curs; a crumb tossed into a pond of fish; ants, loaded and labouring; mice, scampering and scared; puppets jerking on their strings â that is life.
MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS VII.3
IN ROME
Pupienus: Prefect of the City
Pupienus Maximus: His elder son
Pupienus Africanus: His younger son
Balbinus: A patrician of dissolute ways
Gallicanus: A Senator of Cynic views
Maecenas: His intimate friend
Tranquillina: Ambitious wife of Timesitheus
Maecia Faustina: Daughter of the late Emperor Gordian the Elder, and sister of the late Emperor Gordian the Younger
Marcus Junius Balbus: Her young son
Caenis: A prostitute in the Subura
The Die-cutter: Her neighbour and client, a workman in the Mint
IN AQUILEIA
Menophilus: A Senator of Stoic persuasion, co-commander of the defence
Crispinus: Another Senator with a philosophical demeanour, the other commander of the town
IN THE NORTH
Maximinus Thrax: The Emperor
Caecilia Paulina: His deceased wife
Verus Maximus: His son and heir
Apsines of Gadara: Secretary to Maximinus
Flavius Vopiscus: A general
Anullinus: Praetorian Prefect
Volo: Commander of the frumentarii
Julius Capitolinus: Equestrian commander of the 2nd Legion Parthica
Dernhelm: A young barbarian hostage, beginning to be called Ballista
Timesitheus: Equestrian official, a prisoner on his way to Maximinus
Honoratus: Senatorial governor of Moesia Inferior on the Danube
Iunia Fadilla: Wife of Verus Maximus, on the run
IN THE EAST
Priscus: Equestrian governor of Mesopotamia
Philip: His brother
Catius Clemens: Governor of Cappadocia, long-term supporter of Maximinus
Ardashir: Sassanid King of Kings
Africa
The City of Carthage, Eight Days before the Kalends of April, AD238
âLay down your arms!â
As he spoke, Capelianus turned in the saddle, took in the enemy. On both flanks their levies were running, back under the aqueduct, pelting through the tombs towards the illusory safety of the walls of Carthage. His own auxiliaries, all discipline gone, were chasing them, hacking at their defenceless backs. Here in the centre, half of their regulars had put down their standards and weapons, and stretched out empty hands in supplication. Only a thousand still stood against him; the Urban Cohort, and the young men formed into the sham Praetorian Guard of the two usurpers. Win them over, disarm them, and victory was complete. Africa would be won back for Maximinus, the revolt of the Gordiani crushed. Not a battle, but a massacre.
âLay down your arms, fellow-soldiers. Your fight is done and over.â
Frightened eyes stared at him over the wall of shields a few paces ahead. They were outnumbered two to one. These locally raised Praetorians were not real soldiers. There was no sign of the younger Gordian.
