Best of
Roman-Britain

2016

Death in Londinium


John Drake - 2016
    But he desperately wants to become a Roman citizen.He calls upon his Greek slave Ikaros of Apollonius. Ikaros was once a soldier, nobleman and engineer, but, after his country was invaded by the Romans, he was forced into a life of servitude. Known for his mind-reading abilities, Ikaros is believed by some to have magical powers.Londinium is in need of a method to raise the water for the Imperial Baths. So Scorteus calls upon Ikaros’ talents to design such a structure. If this project is accepted, Scorteus will finance the project for Londinium in the hope of winning citizenship. And once he becomes a Roman citizen, Scorteus promises to make Ikaros a free man.But, things do not go as planned… A member of the Scorteus household is discovered murdered. Everyone believes that it must be the work of a servant. Under a vicious Roman law Senatus Consultum Silanianum, if any slave killed the master, then every slave in the house was put to death, meaning hundreds of innocent people.Ikaros is sure no-one in the household is to blame. With his mind-reading powers, it is suggested that he may be able to solve the murder.With the support of Morganus, First Javelin of the Twentieth Legion and his men, Ikaros sets out to solve the mystery. And when further blood is shed their investigations take them to other parts of Roman Britain in an attempt to find the truth ...Will Ikaros unmask the culprit before innocent blood is shed?Death in Londinium is a gripping historical mystery set in Roman Britain.Praise for John Drake’s Fletcher series "Swashbuckling adventure on the high seas doesn't get much better than this. […] John Drake writes beautifully, and you'll be torn between savoring the words and quickly flipping the pages. Any favorable comparison to Stevenson or Patrick O'Brian is totally justified." – Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling authorJohn Drake trained as a biochemist to post-doctorate research level before realizing he was no good at science. His working career was in the television department of ICI until 1999 when he became a full-time writer. John's hobby is muzzle-loading shooting, and his interests are British history and British politics (as a spectator), plus newspapers, TV news, and current affairs. He is married with a son and two grandchildren. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Slaves of Fear: A Land Unconquered


James Mace - 2016
    Though the imperial legions won a number of spectacular victories during the initial conquest, the imperial governor, Ostorius Scapula, realizes that Emperor Claudius declared victory far too soon. An ever-volatile land, hostile forces exist even amongst loyalists and allies. To the north the allied kingdom of the Brigantes is on the verge of civil war, while to the west Rome’s old nemesis, Caratacus, has returned. A former prince of the conquered Catuvellauni, he seeks revenge for the death of his brother and the subjugation of their people. For Centurion Magnus Flavianus, the years have been beset by nightmares and sleepless nights, brought on by the slaying of his lover and their unborn child. Despite his age and the numerous scars that mar both his body and spirit, he stalwartly remains with his legion as it prepares to face Caratacus. Across the mountainous reaches of western Britannia, in the land now known as Wales, Magnus hopes to find both atonement and peace within his tormented soul.

World of Britannia: Historical companion to the Britannia series


Richard Denham - 2016
     World of Britannia forms the historical background to the Britannia trilogy. The arrival of Rome’s legions, first under Julius Caesar, then Aulius Plautius in the first century is well documented, but the end of Roman rule in Britain remains forever in shadow, ‘illuminated’ only by contradiction and legend. The action of the Britannia series spans the period 367-415AD, the beginning of what historians, with some justification, used to call the Dark Ages. It was the twilight of a civilisation that had lasted for nearly five hundred years and Britain would never be the same again. This book documents the little we know, from written records and from archaeology and gives a snapshot of a world that was on the brink of vanishing. World of Britannia is an invaluable accompaniment to the series, providing insights that are not possible in historical fiction. As a standalone history book, it provides a fast-paced, easily-understood account of one of the least known eras in British history. ‘But we mustn’t forget. And we mustn’t let our children forget, or our children’s children.’ ‘Forget what?’ she frowned. ‘That there was a Wall and there were heroes of the Wall. And there was once a Britannia …’

Celtic from the West 3: Atlantic Europe in the Metal Ages -- Questions of Shared Language


John T. Koch - 2016
    'Celts') emerge into our written records at the pre-Roman Iron Age. The impetus for this book is to explore from the perspectives of three disciplines--archaeology, genetics, and linguistics--the background in later European prehistory to these developments. There is a traditional scenario, according to which, Celtic speech and the associated group identity came in to being during the Early Iron Age in the north Alpine zone and then rapidly spread across central and western Europe. This idea of 'Celtogenesis' remains deeply entrenched in scholarly and popular thought. But it has become increasingly difficult to reconcile with recent discoveries pointing towards origins in the deeper past. It should no longer be taken for granted that Atlantic Europe during the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC were pre-Celtic or even pre-Indo-European. The explorations in Celtic from the West 3 are drawn together in this spirit, continuing two earlier volumes in the influential series.

The Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain


Martin Millett - 2016
    This volume introduces the history of research into the province and the cultural changes at the beginning and end of the Romanperiod. The majority of the chapters are thematic, dealing with issues relating to the people of the province, their identities and ways of life. Further chapters consider the characteristics of the province they lived in, such as the economy, and settlement patterns. This handbook reflects the newapproaches being developed in Roman archaeology, and demonstrates why the study of Roman Britain has become one of the most dynamic areas of archaeology.