First Spear

Book excerpt: First Spear: Pro Denuo presents the saga of Roman Centurion Gaius Crastinus vividly to life. Up close and personal, this often-dark look into the Legions of Rome is seen through the eyes of a brave soldier and man of honor. Gaius “Killer” Crastinus and his fellow veterans, Vorenus, Pullo and Bacculus, have won honor and glory in the service of the SPQR. Now these comrades must introduce a new consignment of recruits to life in the Roman Army. One of them is Gaius’ younger brother Marcus. But training for the young soldiers is cut far too short, for war brews in Lusitania. With only three weeks of training, the newly constituted X Legion is ordered north. Their order is to stop Lusitanii incursions into the province of Hispanica forever. Marcus and his fellow recruits follow Gaius in a desperate fight to safeguard their homeland. If they survive, even larger troubles loom to the east. Mob violence in Rome and a quarter-million Helvetian tribesmen are invading provinces in southern Gaul. When Marcus is the one chosen to enter enemy territory on a secret mission, only the “soldier’s god” Mithras knows if he will succeed. This well-researched novel is the sequel to the author’s first book First Spear: Rudimenta (Xlibris 2009).