In 1745, Charles Edward Stuart, claimant prince to the unified thrones of England and Scotland, leads one final uprising to seize the crown for his father, James Edward Stuart. This is the third attempt by James' followers, known as the Jacobites, to depose the ruling dynasty and restore the House of Stuart.Though most Jacobites come from the Scottish Highlands, English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish alike fight for both sides, with few caring who occupies the throne. For many Scots, it ...

It's been forty years since the Roman conquest of southern Britannia. The hostile western regions are at last subdued and twenty years have passed since the cataclysmic Iceni Rebellion in the east. With tribal kingdoms assimilating into Roman culture and the province at relative peace, Imperial Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola turns his attention north. The once-allied, now hostile Kingdom of Brigantes is divided between factions loyal to Rome and those of the usurper king, Venutius. Follow...

The year is 115 A.D. After two years of conquest, Emperor Caesar Traianus has annexed both Armenia and vassal kingdoms of northern Mesopotamia. His gaze turns south, his armies poised to march down the Tigris and Euphrates. Parthian resistance evaporates before his legions, like water drops incinerated by the burning desert sun. Soon, the ancient Kingdoms of Babylon and Mesopotamia will fall under the eagles.Tiberius Artorius Castus, Dux of Britannia, marches with Trajan. His divis...

The year is 104 A.D. Two years have passed since King Decebalus knelt in submission to Emperor Trajan. The recent war between Rome and Dacia was brutal and costly for both sides. The graves of many thousands lie between the River Danube and the gates of Sarmizegetusa. With peace finally come to the frontier, Trajan returns to Rome in triumph. Yet Decebalus' feigned surrender was but a ruse. With echoes of the previous war, the spirits of vanquished warriors crying out for retribution, and ...

After decades of strife and a pair of bloodily savage wars, the Kingdom of Dacia is no more. With King Decebalus dead, and the surviving members of the royal family in captivity, an uneasy peace descends upon the new Roman Province of Dacia. The senate and people of Rome eagerly expect the return of the victorious Emperor Trajan. With equal eagerness, the people await the legendary great Dacian treasury, said to equal hundreds of tons in gold and silver, making its way to Rome. Like Vespas...

In 89 A.D., following a failed insurrection by the governor of Upper Germania, the disgraced Legio XXI, Rapax, is dispatched to Pannonia, on the River Danube. The legion is purged of its senior officers; Emperor Domitian appoints the venerable Lucius Flavius Silva as the new commanding legate. Silva was a revered general. During his previous command, twenty years prior, he famously captured the Herodian Fortress of Masada at the end of the Great Jewish Revolt.Three years later a yo...

Three years following the destruction of Legio XXI in Pannonia, former Tribune Tiberius Artorius Castus and retired Centurion Primus Ordo Gavius Lucifer arrive in Rome. Their political fortunes rest in their letters of introduction from the revered general and Governor of Pannonia and Upper Germania, Marcus Ulpius Trajan.Tiberius and Lucifer return to the Eternal City as growing turmoil engulfs the imperial court. Emperor Domitian's paranoia remains unabated, his spies ever watchfu...

A new age has dawned for Rome. Following the brief reign of Emperor Nerva, Marcus Ulpius Trajan inherits the mantle of Caesar. A revered general and statesman, the senate a people of Rome greet his rise with an optimism not seen since the reign of Vespasian.Tiberius Artorius Castus, whose tenure with the Vigiles of Rome is ending, is summoned by Trajan to the Rhine. The emperor offers him a return to active service with the newly raised Equites Singulares Augusti, more commonly kno...

In the year 9 A.D. three Roman legions under Quintilius Varus are betrayed by the Germanic war chief, Arminius, and destroyed in the forest known as Teutoburger Wald. Six years later, Rome is ready to unleash her vengeance. Emperor Tiberius sends his adopted son, Germanicus Caesar, across the Rhine with an army of forty-thousand imperial soldiers. They come not on a mission of conquest, but of annihilation. Within the ranks is a young legionary named Artorius, for whom the war offers a cha...

It has been three years since the wars against Arminius and the Cherusci. Gaius Silius, Legate of the Twentieth Legion, is concerned that the barbarians-though shattered by the war-may be stirring once again. He also seeks to confirm the rumors regarding Arminius' death. What Silius does not realize is that there is a new threat to the Empire, but it does not come from beyond the frontier; it is coming from within, where a disenchanted nobleman looks to sow the seeds of rebellion in Gaul.

For twelve years a disgraceful pall has hung over the Roman Empire. Trouble along the Germanic frontier forced an abrupt end to Emperor Domitian's war against King Decebalus of Dacia. The terms were an embarrassment to Rome and a drain on the imperial coffers, with two million denarii paid to the Dacians every year. Now, a new Caesar is firmly ensconced upon the imperial throne. Emperor Trajan vows to subjugate the Dacians, humble their king, and restore honour to the Empire. A massive for...

Betrayal and DevastationIn the year 28 A.D. the people of Frisia, a previously loyal province, were suffering under the oppression of the Roman magistrate, a former Centurion named Olennius. So blinded by greed had he become, that he taxed the populous well beyond their means to produce. Now impoverished and risking starvation, the Frisians did the unspeakable and sought open rebellion as their only means of survival.The Emperor Tiberius, now living in self-imposed isolatio...