Vespasian - La série

The prequel to Robert Fabbri's bestselling VESPASIAN: TRIBUNE OF ROME. Starring characters from the series, this novella delves into Rome's criminal underworld Rome 25 AD. Marcus Salvius Magnus, Patron of the Crossroads Brotherhood, has a problem. In fact, he has two. One of the brothels under his protection has been raided by a rival Brotherhood, and valuable... merchandise... has been stolen. He can't lose face and let the attack go unpunished, but how can he retaliate without igniting a gang war? At the other end of the social spectrum, Lady Antonia - the emperor's sister-in-law - has let has let Senator Gaius Vespasius Pollo know that she has a score that only blood will settle, and Magnus owes the Senator a favour. Now, a simple assassination wouldn't be a problem for a man like Magnus, but the instruction is that this death has to be a little more... inventive... than the usual knife-in-the-back-in-a-dark-alley. Perhaps the Patronus of the Crossroads Brotherhood can kill two birds with one stone ?

26 AD: Sixteen-year-old Vespasian leaves his family farm for Rome, his sights set on finding a patron and following his brother into the army. But he discovers a city in turmoil and an Empire on the brink. The aging emperor Tiberius is in seclusion on Capri, leaving Rome in the iron grip of Sejanus, commander of the Praetorian Guard. Sejanus is ruler of the Empire in all but name, but many fear that isn't enough for him. Sejanus' spies are everywhere—careless words at a dinner party can be as dangerous as a barbarian arrow. Vespasian is totally out of his depth, making dangerous enemies (and even more dangerous friends—like the young Caligula), and soon finds himself ensnared in a conspiracy against Tiberius. With the situation in Rome deteriorating, Vespasian flees the city to take up his position as tribune in an unfashionable legion on the Balkan frontier. But even here there is no escaping the politics of Rome. Unblooded and inexperienced, he must lead his men in savage battle with hostile mountain tribes—dangerous enough without renegade Praetorians and Imperial agents trying to kill him too. Somehow, he must survive long enough to uncover the identity of the traitors behind the growing revolt ...

Thracia, 30 AD: Even after four years military service at the edge of the Roman world, Vespasian can't escape the tumultuous politics of an Empire on the brink of disintegration. His patrons in Rome have charged him with the clandestine extraction of an old enemy from a fortress on the banks of the Danube before it falls to the Roman legion besieging it. Vespasian's mission is the key move in a deadly struggle for the right to rule the Roman Empire. The man he has been ordered to seize could be the witness that will destroy Sejanus, commander of the Praetorian Guard and ruler of the Empire in all but name. Before he completes his mission, Vespasian will face ambush in snowbound mountains, pirates on the high seas, and Sejanus's spies all around him. But by far the greatest danger lies at the rotten heart of the Empire, at the nightmarish court of Tiberius, Emperor of Rome and debauched, paranoid madman.

Rome, AD 34. Marcus Salvius Magnus, leader of the Crossroads Brotherhood, is searching for the resin of an eastern flower that can unlock the realm of Morpheus. His patron, Senator Pollo, needs it for the city's most powerful woman, the Lady Antonia, in order to recoup a considerable debt. Meanwhile, rebellion is in the air. The people in Magnus' area believe they are being given short measure at the grain dole. As the Ides of October festival dawns bright and clear to celebrate the completion of agricultural and military campaigns, a violent riot erupts. Can Magnus help right the wrongs that have been perpetrated upon the stirred-up crowd? In this exclusive e-novella for fans of the Vespasian series, Magnus must lead his men in securing a deal over the sale of the highly treasured resin, with its unique power to transport the taker to another place, whilst battling his way through Rome's savage and corrupt political arena.

Sickened by Tiberius’s insane debauchery, Vespasian places his faith in the new Emperor, Caligula. Instead, he watches Rome’s shining star deteriorate into a blood-crazed, incestuous, all-powerful madman. Lavish building projects, endless games, public displays of his relationship with his sister and a terrified senate are nothing to Caligula’s most ambitious plan: to bridge the bay of Neapolis and ride over it wearing Alexander’s breastplate. And it falls to Vespasian to travel to Alexandria and steal it.

Caligula has been assassinated and the Praetorian Guard have proclaimed Claudius Emperor - but his position is precarious. His three freedmen, Narcissus, Pallas and Callistus, must find a way to manufacture a quick victory for Claudius - but how? Pallas has the answer: retrieve the Eagle of the Seventeenth, lost in Germania nearly 40 years before. Who but Vespasian could lead a dangerous mission into the gloomy forests of Germania? Accompanied by a small band of cavalry, Vespasian and his brother try to pick up the trail of the Eagle. But they are tailed by hunters who pick off men each night and leave the corpses in their path. Someone is determined to sabotage Vespasian's mission. In search of the Eagle and the truth, pursued by barbarians, Vespasian will battle his way to the shores of Britannia. Yet can he escape his own Emperor's wrath ?

Marcus Salvius Magnus is a fanatical supporter of the Green Racing Faction and expects a wager to be honoured. Although he does not presume honesty from anyone, he does believe that a bookmaker at the Circus Maximus should record each bet scrupulously and pay the full amount due. But Ignatius, the bookmaker, is foolish enough to attempt to cheat Magnus out of his winnings, incurring not only his wrath but that also of the South Quirinal Crossroads Brotherhood of which Magnus is the leader. In the shady realm of Rome’s underworld Magnus will use the full resources of his criminal fraternity to exact appropriate vengeance. But Magnus also has a problem: his patron, Gaius Vespasius Pollo, is attempting to get his nephew, Sabinus, elected as a quaestor. To do this he feels that the support of the senior consul, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, would be more than useful. He asks Magnus to ease the consul – a man known for his extreme violence – in the right direction. Ahenobarbus has a passion: the Red Faction at the circus. Could it be that Magnus might wash two tunics in the same tub, bringing Ignatius down and securing Ahenobarbus’ support by attempting to fix a chariot race in a manner that has never been done before ?

Britannia, 45 AD: Vespasian's brother, Sabinus, is captured by druids. The druids want to offer a potent sacrifice to their gods - not just one Roman Legate, but two. They know that Vespasian will come after his brother and they plan to sacrifice the siblings on mid-summer's day. But to whom will they be making this sacrifice? What were the gods of this land before the Celts came? Only the druids still hold the secret and it is one of pure malevolence. Vespasian must strive to save his brother whilst completing the conquest of the south-west of the haunted isle, before he is drawn inexorably back to Rome and the heart of Imperial politics. Claudius' three freedmen remain at the locus of power. As Messalina's time as Empress comes to a bloody end, the three freedmen each back a different mistress. But which woman will be victorious? And at what price for Vespasian ?