Hadrian's Wall

by William Dietrich

A fusion of Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire and the movie Braveheart; a novel of ancient warfare, lethal politics, and the final great clash of Roman and Celtic culture.

For three centuries, the stone barrier we know as Hadrian's Wall shielded Roman Britain from the unconquered barbarians of the island's northern highlands. But when Valeria, a senator's daughter, is sent to the Wall for an arranged marriage to an aristocratic officer in 367 AD, her journey unleashes jealousy, passion and epic war. Valeria's new husband, Marcus, has supplanted the brutally efficient veteran soldier Galba as commander of the famed Petriana cavalry. Yet Galba insists on escorting the bride–to–be on her journey to the Wall. Is he submitting to duty? Or plotting revenge? And what is the mysterious past of the handsome barbarian chieftain Arden Caratacus, who springs from ambush and who seems to know so much of hated Rome?

As sharp as the edge of a spatha sword and as piercing as a Celtic arrow, Hadrian's Wall evokes a lost world of Roman ideals and barbaric romanticism.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Roman Britain, British Literature, Adventure, Roman

372 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

William Dietrich is a NY Times bestelling author of the Ethan Gage series of eight books which have sold into 28 languages. He is also the author of six other adventure novels, several nonfiction works on the environmental history of the Pacific Northwest, and a contributor to several books.

Bill was a career journalist, sharing a Pulitzer for national reporting at the Seattle Times for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He taught environmental journalism at Huxley College, a division of Western Washington University, and was adviser to Planet Magazine there. He was Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and received several National Science Foundation fellowships for reporting on science. His travels have taken him from the South Pole to the Arctic, and from the Dead Sea to the base camp of Mount Everest. The traveling informs his books.

He lives in Anacortes, WA, in the San Juan islands, and is a fan of books, movies, history, science, and the outdoors.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-El muro se construyó con sillares de piedra, porque no tenían ladrillos en esos tiempos. Ahora sí que los tenemos-.

Género. Novela histórica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Algo más de 260 años después de su construcción, el muro de Adriano sigue dividiendo las realidades de un imperio en decadencia y de unos celtas cada vez más activos y organizados. La llegada de Valeria, hija de un senador, para casarse con el prefecto, coincide con otros cambios en la rutina de la zona que parecen indicar que algo se está tramando.

¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Natasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Dietrich is a great storyteller. The historical setting for the book took place during a period where there are few facts to go on, but using an array of believable characters and plenty of action, mixed with enough of what we know about that period of Roman-held Britain, Dietrich has written a very entertaining book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this historical period but this book fell way short of my expectations. To be honest, I didn't like rating this Roman book lower than most others I've rated but I felt there was enough justification. Inspector [Agens in Rebus??] Draco from Rome is tasked to find out the circumstances of the disappearance of a Senator's daughter who has married the praefectus [legate] of the Petrianis cavalry fortress and also why a horde of barbarians have attacked Hadrian's Wall recently. The latter is the author's explanation for the 'Barbarian Conspiracy.' The whole story consists of Draco's interviews with various players in the story, interspersed with his musings on what he is told, his speculations, and the actual plot. I best liked the presentation of the Celtic culture and culture clash between the Celts and the Romans: free and open versus regimented and inflexible. Valeria, the senator's daughter, makes her way from Rome with an escort and marries Marcus, the awkward, shy, indecisive aristocratic commander; he's more of a scholar than a warrior and much, much older than she. I didn't take him as unloving. He was not a bad man, but just ignorant of women's feelings and how to act with women, which he admits. He's fixated on his legion and his Duty, as he sees it; his attitudes represent typically those of his class. This political marriage and the influence gained from the senator are what keep Marcus in his high position. The feisty tomboyish Valeria is taught to ride a horse the regular way [considered unladylike] and with her maidservant goes to explore north of the Wall. They are captured by a band of Celts and taken to the chieftain's fortress. Then of course, what I guess was predictable and inevitable happens, but I just rolled my eyes and kept mumbling to myself: the chieftain, Arden, and the Roman girl fall in love. The romance and so heavy an emphasis on it spoiled the novel for me. She escapes and re-enters the fortress to warn of an impending attack from the northern tribes. The Epilogue led smoothly and directly into the subject of Eagle in the Snow, one of my favorite novels ever.

The characters were too stereotypical and two-dimensional for me. I was especially angry at Marcus' reaction towards Valeria on her return. The villain really put on a different face from his real one; his motivations for his actions were well explained although I still disliked him. The Celts did have some personality; the Romans were colorless except in extremes. I did not like the italicization of Draco's sections--his interviews of the principals; those hurt my eyes and gave me a headache. Dietrich did write well; the book was a page-turner, but the romance cheapened a good story. 2.5/5 but I rounded it up because of writing style and details of the daily life of the Celts. As far as the cover art: if it means to portray the period in which the Wall was built, it was accurate, but wrong if means to show the soldiers in the Late Empire; they looked completely different.

[Mandeep’s reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading a book by this author. Really enjoyed his writing. He did a great job on portraying what Roman Britain, and the Roman Empire might have been like - and brought it alive for me. His descriptions of the surroundings, the character's motivations, and the battles were very vivid and not rambling. I also loved the device of using a Roman inspector to ferret out the story. The novel's strongest points for me was the portrayal of the lives of Roman centurions/commanders and their motivations, I also liked how he talked about some of their customs and beliefs. The weakest part was probably the idealism of the underlying love story - but it read like it would make a good movie because of it.

SPOILER
Idealistic because the heroine just didn't seem to focus enough on what she'd be losing by eventually going "barbaric". Sure doing your own housework might seem novel initially, but I can't see someone from that background not missing the benefits of having someone pour a nice hot bath for her etc. Nevermind the fact she'd never get to talk to or see her parents or family ever again either.

Anyhow I will definitely check out more by this author.

[Vichta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Czy w czasach rzymskich na północy Wyspy żyli Szkoci? Oni zjawili się tam kilkaset lat później. Wtedy byli tam Kaledończycy, a wśród nich głównie Piktowie.
Czy poprawna nazwa to Brytowie czy Brytonowie. Z tą drugą nigdy się nie spotkałam.
Czy wszyscy Brytowie malowali lub tatuowali się na niebiesko? Jeśli już któreś z plemion to robiło, to byli to Piktowie, choć i tu nie ma pewności.
Czy istniało plemię Atakotów? Żadnej wzmianki o nich nie znalazłam.
Czy na terenach obecnej Szkocji z Rzymem walczyli też Frankowie i Sasi? Oni zjawili się tam raczej po wycofaniu się wojsk rzymskich.
Czy niewolnica rzymska mogła zostać oficjalnie powołana na świadka ślubu dwojga Rzymian? Nie wydaje mi się, ponieważ niewolnik miał tyle praw co zwierzę, czyli żadnych, a jego słowo było nic nie warte.
Czy Rzymianie stosowali karę śmierci przez ukamienowanie? Owszem, tolerowali je, ale nie stosowali. To prawo bliskowschodnie.
Czy jemioła rośnie na dębach? Nie, na tych drzewach nie rośnie.

Takie i inne "kwiatki" znalazłam w tej powieści i dlatego nie uważam, że nie można zaklasyfikować jako historycznej. Pojawia się też taki osobliwy opis sytuacji, kiedy biedni Brytowie walczą na ulicy o miedziaka, a jednocześnie obrzucają znienawidzonych Rzymian jabłkami i kapustą. Czy biedny i głodny człowiek rzuca w okupanta jedzeniem?

Szkoda, że zamiast obiecanej historii z Muru Hadriana, dostałam coś, co głównie jest romansem. Nie jest to całkiem zła powieść, jeśli potraktuje się ją jako fantasy. Jest wiele ciekawych wątków. Małżeństwo polityczne bez miłości, zdrada małżeńska i zdrada stanu, żądza władzy, relacje pan-niewolnik, przyjaźń, lojalność, miłość, poczucie obowiązku i odpowiedzialności. Ciekawe opisy życia codziennego mieszkańców Północy (jakkolwiek by ich nie nazywać), choć nie mam pewności, na ile są prawdziwe. Zderzenie dwóch światów, które w wielu miejscach na świecie można obserwować i dzisiaj. Celtowie, którzy uważali, że należą do ziemi i Rzymianie, którzy twierdzili, że ziemia należy do nich. Racjonalizm i duchowość. Dyscyplina i swoboda. Honor i umiłowanie wolności. Jak w tym wszystkim odnajdą się bohaterowie?

Jedną z głównych jest córka dostojnika rzymskiego, poślubiona mężczyźnie, którego nie kocha. Ktoś inny wkrótce zajął jej myśli. Jest jeszcze ten, który czuje się pokrzywdzony i pragnie wyrównać rachunki z Rzymem jej kosztem. Poza tym parę innych postaci, które zostają wmieszane w wydarzenia.

Dobrze się czyta, akcja jest wartka i ciekawa. Jednak ten niezbyt dokładny research, a szczególnie mieszanie nazw plemion jest rażące. Zdecydowanie nie jest to must read.

[Noreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plausible story about the impact of Roman collapse in NORTHERN England (Britannia) near the Scottish (Caledonia) border/Hadrians Wall,before there was an England or a Scotland or even the nameless tribes that eventually formed the countries.


Thank you for map of Roman Britain.

The story starts in 122 AD, ends 367 AD, covers about 350 years.

The historical note and epilogue, put the story into archeological and written Roman historical context, fun and engaging way to learn history.

Juxtaposition with Morgan Llewelyn’s “After Rome” for effects of Roman fall in SOUTHERN England.

Thank you William Dietrich for your fine history.

[Mandi Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick, fun read for those who like historical fiction--especially readers who appreciate novels that deftly combine romance, mystery and action-packed battle scenes. Based on the "Great Barbarian Uprising" in A.D. 367 between the Celts of Scotland and Roman Britannia, the story takes place along the approximately 80-mile Hadrian's Wall that marked the northern most boundary of the mighty Roman Empire. It foreshadows the ultimate demise of Imperial Rome that would rock the world a century later. The contrast of ancient Celtic magic and nature worship, compared to Roman discipline and pragmatism is fascinating. Having just walked the entire Hadrian's Wall Path--now a World Heritage Site--from the Irish to the North Sea myself, I can vouch for the author's accurate and picturesque descriptions of this beautiful and fanciful part of the world.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly genre historical romance, but a good one.

None of what happens in this book is possible or believable, and the weird story-in-a-story device never really works because the narration includes considerably more than the inspector could have known. The characters are such stereotypes that they are laughable, and any who read this novel and didn't know that the raffish brigand leader was both working in cahoots with Galba (NOT A SPOILER) and was going to win the undying love of the sprightly and tom boyish Senator's daughter with a single touch of his magic peener (AGAIN, NO SPOILER) has obviously never read a book before. Still, it works.
Equally contrived is the "Noble Savage" garbage that contrasts the stolid and patriarchal traditions of tottering ancient Rome with the vigorous egalitarianism and we-are-nature's-children of the Celts. Where nearly every action south of the wall is described as a duty, and the true Roman men are emasculated when not boorish - it's always be intimidated by a woman or try and rape them - the Celtii are a communal free love society that treasures its women and the men respect them for their choices. Virtually every sentence spoken north of the wall includes the word "freedom" or a variant. This is silly, but it still works.
The events are invented, the conditions at the wall are made up, the Celtic culture and traditions are obviously unreal, the battles make almost no sense, and humans just don't behave like this. Still, it works.
On the whole, this is exactly the type of book that it set out to be. Pure romance and fiction, and entertaining fiction at that.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really helped Hadrian's Wall come alive for me. I'd heard of the wall and seen picture of the ruins, but never really thought about the people who lived by the wall. Dietrich does a good job of describing the characters and their motivations. I really enjoyed that the Inspector never met the main character, Valeria, and that he had to piece together what happened from people's biased memories and views. The negative points are that plot is easily guessed at some parts and the characters are a bit predictable. That said, I really enjoyed the setting and cultural insights both Roman and Celtic. I'll definitely be reading more by Dietrich.

[Jelena · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 *
Pocetak kraja starog i trulog Rimskog carstva, sumrak rimske mitologije i zora hriscanstva. Oko cetvrtog veka nove ere, meni totalno nepoznato istorijsko razdoblje. Prica o ratu i ljubavi. Lepo epsko putovanje u daleku proslost.

[Snezhina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hadrian's Wall has long fascinated me, especially after I found out that it was an inspiration for the Wall in George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. It seemed to me a majestic wall, the thought of which gave me shivers of excitement and a bit of fear. That is why I decided to pick up this book as soon as I saw it. I really liked the way the story is told - from the points of view of several people interviewed by an inspector - and i really liked the endig - the idea of receiving the freedom one longs for. I found the descriptions of the Roman life and its contrast to the Celtic one interesting. However, what prevented me from rating this book higher was mostly the 'woman marries a man she does not love and falls in love with someone completely different' cliche. Given that the book is named Hadrian's Wall, I expected it to have more of a focus on it. Here the wall served just as a background to this love story, I did not feel the majesty and awe and fear that I wanted to feel simply because it was just a backdrop. I expected more focus on it and on what it means to the soldiers around it and their commanders, and also to all of Rome. I did not feel that here due to the big focus on the love story.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not read a good Roman romance novel in many an age. This story is set in Roman England when the wall is already two hundred years old. A senator's daughter travels to the border lands to wed a praefactor. She is kidnapped by a Caledonian "barbarian", and much like the stories from the American west where Caucasian captives decided they preferred the Native American lifestyle, she finds much to like north of the wall. Naturally, her captor is ruggedly handsome and respectful and honorable. Quite the little romance story.

[William Guerrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read with the historic details weaved nicely into the story. For me the first half of the book was much stronger than the second, where it became, in my opinion, a romanticized noble savage romance. The author defends himself from that objection in the book's historical note. His choice seems to me to be within the boundaries of what conscientious historical novelists can do, even if it weakens the book for readers like me.

[Sarah]

This was just not for me. I just couldn't get into the characters.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested in this novel because I have always found Hadrian’s Wall in England very intriguing. He was the same Roman emperor that built Hadrian’s Villa outside Rome that I visited when I was 17. He was a very ambitious emperor and builder. This book gives insight into England in the first century. There is discussion of Christianity, Paganism, and other religious influences. Politics are also a huge part of the book. Understanding of the culture, particularly of Calendonia (now Scotland) is very useful. There are ficticious characters that are Roman and Celt to help in understanding the era. This book does have more sexuality than I would like to read or recommend to someone else. For that reason, I probably wouldn’t reread it.
PLOT SPOILER ALERT:
The Roman aristocrat Valeria is brought to the wall to marry the Roman aristocratic military leader Marcus. Theirs' is a short and unloving relationship. She is kidnapped by the Celts, with Arden Caraticus as their leader. Galba is the villain, as is Marcus in a way. The approach to telling the story is also interesting, a Roman investigator is trying to unravel the mystery of the missing woman and the attack on the wall.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story. It takes place on the outskirts of the Roman Empire, in Britannia at Hadrian's Wall, at a time where the long-lived empire is about to experience its collapse. Draco is an imperial investigator sent to the Wall to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of a senator's daughter (Valeria) soon after her marriage to the calvary's new commander and a large battle between the Celts and the Romans. The story alternates between his interviews with survivors and the actual events as they happened. I loved Valeria as a character-she was feisty and discontented with the Roman standard of marriage and womanhood. Her captivity with the Celts showed that "the barbarians" were anything but-they had a thriving culture and society whose only crime was a persistent defiance against Rome. While there were strong romantic elements to the story as Valeria struggles between duty and her heart, this story highlighted the decline of the Roman empire in corruption and discontent of its traditional backbone, the military.

[Labijose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aceptable novela sobre el inicio, y sobretodo el final del famoso muro de Adriano, del que aún se conservan restos, que han sido declarados Patrimonio de la Humanidad. La invasión de los bárbaros del norte, (lo que hoy se conoce como Escocia) está bien descrita. También se destaca el protagonismo religioso de los druidas entre aquellas gentes, y su respeto por la naturaleza. Quizás el romance entre la aristócrata romana y el jefe celta Carataco esté demasiado edulcorado, pero episodios similares ocurrieron y están bien documentados. La descripción del ataque bárbaro al muro está muy bien narrada. Al final, el autor incluye una reseña histórica, muy necesaria para aquellos que no estén familiarizados con la época.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of historical fiction and I love to get my history this way. This is about the wall the Roman Emperor Hadrian (about 150 AD)had built to separate the part of the British Isles he had conquered from the wild Celts (Scotland). The Celts were relentlessly fierce and independent and their land not worth bothering with, but the Romans needed to protect themselves from them and their sporatic raids into Roman territory. This is also a story about a young Roman wife that gets taken by the Celts and becomes aquainted with their culture and their dynamic and, of course, attractive leader.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction of 300 AD concerning the confrontations that occur when a border separates two totally contrasting societies - that of Ancient Rome and the Celtric region of Britain. It predates King Arthur legends and in a way sets the stage for this well loved lore.
I am hesitant to pick up a historical fiction book of these early eras, but this one proved to be captivating. Don't be afraid to venture into this one.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hadrian's wall was built around 122 A.D. by the Roman emperor and parts still exist today. It was considered the end of the Roman empire in Brittania and separated the Romans from "barbarians" like the Celts, Picts, and Scotti tribes.

This is a very good historical novel full of action, intrigue, and romance. It is also quite a commentary on the contrasts between what it means to be civilized or barbarian Published in 2004, it is a surprise to me that it was never made into a movie!

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished re-reading this book, and was astounded to discover that it was exactly as I remembered it - a mix of good historical fiction set in Roman Britain and highly speculative junk lit. Interestingly enough, the Romans are not really the heroes nor villains of the piece, but on the whole their portrayal is more negative than positive.

[Sonia Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Romans were more barbarians than the barbarians they choose to conquer. Good read.

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really slow read that was surprisingly romancy.

[Melina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had not expected this book to be a historical romantic novel. And as such, I feel like everything was just a background to the main love story. Oddly though, I also think it is not your traditional romantic novel because we never actually meet the main characters. The story is told from the point of view of those around them, and that is one thing I liked about this novel. The author has an interesting way of playing with point of view, and I thought it was relatively well done. And possibly, one of the main reasons why I kept reading. Also, the author's writing style was very good, and his characters plausible. Despite following the cliché of a woman marrying a man she doesn't love and falling in love with the barbarian chieftain, the main female protagonist is likable and tolerable. She plays her part of a Roman matron, and that of all other Roman matrons of the past, well. Her male counterpart is also portrayed as a realistic character. He is everything she is not, and I liked how this duo represented the opposition between the Roman and Celtic cultures. Valeria's love for Arden and her gradual acceptance of his Celtic culture represents, in my opinion, the eventual defeat and dominance of the barbarians over the Roman Empire, which as stated in the epilogue, fell a mere 32 years after this war. Also, the duality of oppression (represented by the Roman culture) and freedom (represented by the Celtic culture) was very well portrayed.

Given the title of the novel, though, I thought the book would be centered more on this war and the attempts of the northern tribes at breaching the wall, not the love story. Galba, however, was a very interesting character. Not so much a villain, he was a frustrated commander who'd given his life to the Wall, and had it all taken from him due to politics. And though the setting is different nowadays, this is still something very current today and Galba's transformation from a loyal commander to a frustrated and duplicitous soldier who seizes what he thinks he deserves without any mercy (for none was shown to him) was a very interesting turn and read.

The reason why I am giving this book 3 stars only is because I still think it was too much of a love story than I had anticipated. I was expecting something different.

[Courtney Lake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good, non mental gymnastics read. None of the characters were particularly surprising or unexpected, the plot ending was outlined from the beginning, and anyone who had ever read roman era historical fiction will find the setting familiar.

That's not to say it wasn't good! Just that it was an easy read, which can be exactly what you need sometimes.

The plot follows the aftermath investigation of the assault and breach of Hadrians wall in Roman Occupied Britain. There's a surly, resentful commander; the officer who purchased his command through a marriage; the wife to said marriage who doesn't seem to quite understand how life works despite coming across as rather realistic; the rebel Celts and their turncoat leader. You can find yourself rooting for any one of the characters in the first half, though by the end you are solidly in the rebels camp. The scenery is well described, the misery of the setting made evidently clear, its stark beauty as obvious as a post card. Our characters.... not as well done up, rather one dimensional, but consistent, which is something many authors fail to accomplish.

The only problem I had was the lack of an ending, though I am sure it was on purpose. The book just trails off......

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a lot good to be said about this book, what I liked most was the different lenses and approaches Dietrich took to illustrating what an empire in decline looks and feels like to those experiencing it.

We get a few different characters and perspectives on what Rome actually is: a senatorial heiress from the Eternal city itself, a brash upstart military officer marrying above his class, a frontier career military leader, a 7th-generation decurion, and a Celt warrior-king.

Each of these people has different views of the strength and violence, glamour and excess, audacity and greed, and the nobility and arrogance of Rome. Through their eyes we see a glimmer of how complicated it was to live in the largest, most powerful, richest, most exacting empire the world has ever known.

Dietrich uses the setting of Hadrian's Wall in the late 4th Century to illustrate what it means to be "on the frontier" of a great empire, and what happens when that empire begins to shrink, receding inward, and abandoning its edges.

I loved this book and how well Dietrich considered different personal experiences of Rome's decline. There were also many other things to recommend it, which I'm sure other reviewers will tell you of too.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author here writes a tale of ancient Britain that shows us that (Surprise!) there really were talented and organized people there before the Romans showed up.
As you are probably aware, it was as far north as the Romans felt they could possibly go, so they built the wall to hold the tribes back.
What would happen if that status quo was challenged?
This book answers that.
The characters are nicely written and the story follows a plausable and not predictable pattern that will keep you turning the pages.
The only thing that I did not like is that I felt that Dietrich does not capture the nature and ruggedness of the landscape. I have walked Hadrian's Wall with my wife and as he describes it- he does not take me back to the place that I was.
This book has the same setting as the Channing Tatum film, "The Eagle"
If you like that film, then I feel that you will like this book.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book after walking Hadrian's Wall, loved William Dietrich's immersive writing style of the Wall's place in history in the first half, the challenges of the Roman legion and dipping into both the Roman lifestyle and culture, as well as the scottish celts. It did, however, feel like eating a candy bar whilst watching a tv show instead of a meal before a movie. as i rushed through the whodunit investigation, i felt like the author was also rushing through gimmicky murder mystery playing with the timeline with so much rich material left untackled. this could have been an amazing book with so many converging destinies in that time period of roman brittany sunsetting and scottish celts rising, but trails off to a predictable and rushed conclusion in the end.

[Ktmholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

By agreeing to marry the daughter of a Roman senator, Tribune Marcus Flavius was given command of an outpost along Hadrian’s Wall, which divided “civilized” Roman Britain from the “barbarian” Celts. For her part, Valeria was soon disillusioned by her new husband, but continued to look at her new homeland as a great adventure, even learning the Celtic language from servants. Neither of them could imagine the depth of intrigue and treachery that awaited them, from both sides of “The Wall.”
The story has a little something for everyone, from a touch of romance to vivid description of battles, while providing a flavor of the time and place.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more romantic tale than historical novel, which surprised me but shouldn't have. In an excellent historical footnote, Dietrich admits that much of what can be written about the 4th century events in Roman England is conjecture, given how little we know of the time. Nevertheless, the quality of writing and plot development is excellent, which goes a long way in keeping the reader interested. I was left with questions and skepticism over two issues- first, the role of women in both Roman and Celtic life; and second the position of slaves, which in this novel seems closer to beloved house servants than chattel.