Considered an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and poisonings of the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the Mad Caligula to become emperor in 41 A.D. A masterpiece.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Steven Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life.”—Pat Conroy At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army. Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history—one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale. . . .
Londinium¿s burning. . .This does for the Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, what I, CLAUDIUS did for the stuttering Emperor whose armies invaded Britain in AD43: an obscure historic figure is suddenly centre-stage. And he has a terrific story to tell. Sent to Britain to conquer the gold mines in Wales, he faces the fury of the tribes united by Queen Boudicca in opposition to the corrupt officials entrenched in Nero¿s favour. Somehow, Paulinus must seize the gold and defeat the rebellion without earning the enmity of an increasingly unstable Emperor. Packed with fascinating detail of life in Roman Britain ¿ and in the ranks of the Legions in particular ¿ this is first-class historical fiction in the tradition of John Masters or Alfred Duggan. 'Engrossing, exciting and lit by a kind of imaginative realism which makes characters, supposed to have been dead two thousand years, vivid and alive¿I am reminded of Alfred Duggan' - John Masters
