The Veiled Assassin: a Novel of the Late Roman Empire (The Embers of Empire) (Volume 1)

'Roman fiction' fans tiring of the Republic or Imperial periods are welcoming this new series with enthusiasm. 'A Veiled Assassin' promises to rank Hunter alongside Steven Saylor, Robert Harris and Harry Sidebottom.This is the first volume of a thrilling espionage adventure series with the unique setting of Late Roman North Africa in 347 A. D. among religious terrorists. The Circumcellions are suicidal extremists determined to uproot the centuries-old Roman army occupation of the Numidian desert and the official Christian church it now defends.Bodyguard-slave Marcus has only one mission--to expose the extremists' network and spy his way to freedom--but has he bargained on betrayal by the man he respects more than any other?Meticulously researched, fast-paced, and well-plotted, 'A Veiled Assassin' introduces the Embers of Empire series that carries Marcus from Donatist fanatics to doomed Gallo-Roman army reformers to corrupt Antioch eunuch courtiers--all of them embers of a empire blindly smoldering towards extinction.