FAQ

A: Yes!  The sequel: 'Rome: The Coming of the King will launch in hardback on May 12th 2011 and in paperback in January 2012.  The one after that, 'Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth' should be out in hardback in February 2012 and there will be a fourth in 2013 (working title: Rome: Imperator)

TCOTK follows Pantera in his hunt for Saulos and takes him to the east, where the grandson of an insurgent hero is planning his own act of military genius as a means to rid his country of the scourge of Rome. I will write another FAQ about Menachem and his taking of Masada; it's too long for here and just too exciting - in my view, he's one of the unsung heroes of history; a brilliant military commander who executed an act of astonishing daring and intelligence and succeeded in defeating the might of Rome with a far smaller force.  The detail is in the book: read it and discover a whole new world.

 The Eagle of the XIIth is my homage to Rosemary Sutcliff - I've been wanting to write this book since I was 8 years old and read 'The Eagle of the XIth' which is still, in my view, one of the top ten historical novels of all time - it's simple, easy to read and beautiful, a haiku of a book. It sparked my interest in the tribes north of the wall and in the rites that she hints at but we never see - this book is the reason I wrote the Boudica series and is one reason this series has taken the turns it has. And the outstanding thing (from a writer's perspective) is that while the Ninth legion never actually lost their eagle - the Twelfth definitely did - Josephus and Tacitus give us the detail - but neither mentions how it was retrieved again; we just know that it must have been because the XIIth wasn't disbanded.  It's a writer's dream: to have half the story in detail and to be free to make up the rest.