Iron and Rust

Iron and Rust
Harry Sidebottom

From the bestselling author of WARRIOR OF ROME comes the first book in a new series set in third century Rome, a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war.In a single year six Emperors will lay claim to the Throne of the Caesars…SPRING AD235Dawn on the Rhine. A surprise attack and the brutal murder of the Emperor Alexander and his mother ends the Severan dynasty and shatters four decades of Roman certainty.Military hero Maximinus Thrax is the first Caesar risen from the barracks. A simple man of steel and violence, he will fight for Rome.The Senators praise the new Emperor with elaborate oratory, but will any of them accept a Caesar who was once a shepherd boy? And in the streets of the eternal city, others merely pray to escape imperial notice.In the north, as the merciless war against the barbarians consumes men and treasure, rebellion and personal tragedy drive Maximinus to desperate extremes, bloody revenge and the borders of sanity.Iron & Rust, the first book in a major new series, creates a world both sophisticated and brutal, yet firmly rooted in history; a world of intrigue, murder, passion and war, a world where men will kill to sit on the Throne of the Caesars.

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_01251a4b-c076-5154-aeea-e36bd79d8a77)

Harper

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London SE1 9GF

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

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014

Copyright © Harry Sidebottom 2014

Maps © John Gilkes 2014.

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photographs © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images (eagle sculpture); Shuttershock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) (ancient ruins, background).

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.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 970007499847

Ebook Edition © 2014 ISBN: 9780007499861

Version: 2015-02-17

DEDICATION (#ulink_aa75c274-8320-5b63-9527-7a4e5b6d7e45)

TO EWEN BOWIE, MIRIAM GRIFFIN

AND ROBIN LANE FOX

Our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.

CASSIUS DIO LXXII.36.4

There have never been such earthquakes and plagues, or tyrants and kings with such unexpected careers, which were rarely if ever recorded before.

HERODIAN I.I.4

CONTENTS

COVER (#ubd79da65-7c43-54b1-b88a-a246480c1e40)

TITLE PAGE (#ucfb3a5ca-b31f-5927-a107-3983e89eae4c)

COPYRIGHT (#u21c6be80-351f-5bb3-a1f1-8e2798d895f0)

DEDICATION (#u2bca5813-409f-5049-8c67-7477ceddf997)

EPIGRAPH (#uf15f9e94-bbfc-55fd-96df-16516c7445fd)

MAPS (#u6ec0283e-96c0-54e0-a485-7140ccbe3b72)

THE ROMAN EMPIRE AD235–8 (#litres_trial_promo)

THE CENTRE OF ROME (#litres_trial_promo)

AFRICA PROCONSULARIS (#litres_trial_promo)

THE NORTHERN FRONTIER (#litres_trial_promo)

THE EAST (#litres_trial_promo)

CAST OF MAIN CHARACTERS (#u7d5a41ef-cb32-5983-babe-98839c56b97f)

IRON & RUST (#ucb614252-90ab-50d0-bbdd-f36ce16e85a8)

CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_5aeb1f23-a87a-58c1-a751-46fd8fa80211)

CHAPTER 2 (#u098b2f3f-afe0-57a7-ac66-eebd42c5b9f3)

CHAPTER 3 (#u613d1bcf-ce57-5841-8119-55cccf65e13f)

CHAPTER 4 (#u1cf2c5c1-7aa5-5065-8348-8e62dda9ccf7)

CHAPTER 5 (#ue9ce0f3c-78b0-5c17-8e9b-3dd69663c6e4)

CHAPTER 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 9 (#litres_trial_promo)