Fire and Sword

Fire and Sword
Harry Sidebottom

‘Absorbing and brilliant … Game of Thrones without the dragons’ THE TIMESThe third book in Sidebottom’s epic series set in third century Rome; a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war.Rome AD238. The Year of the Six Emperors.The empire is in turmoil. With the Gordiani, father and son, dead in Africa, the tyrant Maximinus Thrax vies to reclaim the throne.The Senate, who supported the revolt of the Gordiani, must act quickly to avoid the vengeance of Maximinus. They elect two Senators to share the imperial purple. But fighting erupts in the streets as ambitious men call for violent revolution.Can the new Augusti hold the city together as the empire’s farthest territories fight off bloody attacks from the Goths and the Persians in the east?In the north of Italy, Maximinus descends on Aquileia. Against the odds, Menophilus, an old friend of the younger Gordian, prepares to defend the town. In one of the greatest sieges of the empire, its fate will be decided in a fight for victory, for revenge, for Rome.Filled with intrigue, betrayal and bloody battle, Fire & Sword creates a magnificent world built on brutality and political games, where no one is safe from retribution – not even those who dare to rule.

Copyright (#uc0e7c4a9-430a-5380-be8b-4f62878ecb39)

HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016

Copyright © Harry Sidebottom 2016

Maps © John Gilkes 2016

Jacket design Claire Ward, © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016 Jacket photographs © Stephen Mulcahey /Arcangel Images (army, sword); Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com) (all other images)

Harry Sidebottom asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

While some of the events and characters are based on historical incidents and figures, this novel is entirely a work of fiction.

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Source ISBN 9780007499922

Ebook Edition © MAY 2016 ISBN: 9780007499946

Version: 2017-01-19

Dedication (#uc0e7c4a9-430a-5380-be8b-4f62878ecb39)

To Richard Marshall

An empty pageant; a stage play; flocks of sheep, herds of cattle; a tussle of spearmen; a bone flung among a pack of curs; a crumb tossed into a pond of fish; ants, loaded and labouring; mice, scampering and scared; puppets jerking on their strings – that is life.

MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS VII.3

Table of Contents

Cover (#u43791625-f0e9-569f-9d54-286077d810ad)

Title Page (#u058c608f-7f07-5447-8c35-0b732e8bc0db)

Copyright (#ue9ad2d66-dc7d-54c8-aea2-7928531b408e)

Dedication (#u4c114097-fb64-50da-b890-9cf4510afac7)

Epigraph (#u864dbab6-b4e0-5a16-93cc-d41f68f9c164)

Maps (#u06645dab-22ce-5e89-8064-b57ea58f80d2)

Cast of Main Characters (#uc2b9ae73-bc4c-5800-ab15-c48c4773e18a)

Prologue: Africa (#uf842daa1-b83e-55b5-a44e-8d5285f5316f)

Part I: Italy (#u10a233a7-afd2-5bae-84c7-ff6d61c5ada7)

Chapter 1 (#u94b8b731-0428-5b5e-b624-aeb08f072a0b)

Chapter 2 (#uabfa4700-5a88-585f-9387-9ae8f932b037)

Chapter 3 (#u1ff02341-0e73-5e52-b1d8-46a648927841)

Chapter 4 (#u636b10e5-5ae5-56dc-8a18-7773c07d5a96)

Part II: Italy (#u5755b9dc-044e-5f04-b05e-9bd0880fca34)

Chapter 5 (#u9a18f0c9-97cc-56fd-a474-a665bd3ee254)

Chapter 6 (#ueb57c7f7-ef71-5153-bb6a-9c72795db0ea)

Chapter 7 (#u1f497e41-d3e9-50a9-8343-7b3c8631ae33)

Chapter 8 (#u4a41ecc3-4f3d-5f3c-a38d-2a8ab64226ff)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Sword, Part III: The Provinces (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part IV: Italy (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)