The Eagles of the Empire Audiobook is a Roman military fiction set in the territories of the Roman Empire, covering the second invasion of Britain and the subsequent prolonged campaign undertaken by the rump of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
The audiobooks follow two officers in the Imperial Roman army, Quintus Licinius Cato and Lucius Cornelius Macro, during the 1st century AD, in the reign of Emperor Claudius.
It is the year 42 AD, and Centurion Macro, battle-scarred and fearless, is in the heart of Germany with the Second Legion. Cato, a new recruit and the newly appointed second-in-command to Macro, will have more to prove than most. In a bloody skirmish with local tribes, Cato gets his first chance to prove that he’s more than a callow, privileged youth. As their next campaign takes them to a land of unparalleled barbarity – Britain – a special mission unfolds, thrusting Cato and Macro headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself.
When Centurion Macro and his young subordinate, Optio Cato arrive on the shores of Britain to take part in the Emperor Claudius’ invasion in AD 43, Macro knows the desperately outnumbered Roman army will be facing one of the toughest campaigns ever. Meanwhile, a sinister organization is secretly betraying the brave men of the legions. When assassination rumors coincide with the Emperor’s arrival, the soldiers realize they are up against a force more ruthless than the Britons.
In the bitter winter of a.d. 44, the Roman troops in Britain are impatiently awaiting the arrival of spring so that the campaign to conquer the island can be renewed. But the native Britons are growing more cunning in their resistance. When the most brutal of the native tribesmen, the Druids of the Dark Moon, capture the shipwrecked wife and children of General Plautius, quick action is called for. Centurion Macro and his optio, Cato, find themselves slipping out of camp in the dead of night to reach the General’s family before they are sacrificed to the Druids’ dark gods.
It’s A.D. 44 and Vespasian and the Roman Army’s Second Legion are forging ahead in their campaign to seize the southwest. Centurion Macro and newly appointed Centurion Cato are ordered by Vespasian to provide Verica, aged ruler of the Atrebates, with an army. They must train his tribal levies into a force that can protect him, enforce his rule, and take on the increasingly ambitious raids that the enemy is launching. But open revolt is brewing.
It is late summer a.d. 44 and the battle-weary Roman legions are in their second year of campaigning against the British tribes. The troops’ commander, General Plautius, is under considerable pressure from the emperor to crush the natives once and for all. Centurions Macro and Cato are with the crack Second Legion under the precarious leadership of Centurion Maximus and it is their task to hold a ford across the river Tamesis when the natives are forced into a trap. But Maximus’s nerve breaks at the critical point, allowing the enemy leader, Caratacus, and his men to escape.
It is spring A.D. 45 in Rome, and Centurions Macro and Cato, dismissed from the Second Legion in Britain, are waiting for an investigation into their involvement in the death of a fellow officer. It is then that the imperial secretary, the devious Narcissus, makes them an offer they can’t refuse: to rescue an imperial agent who has been captured by pirates operating off the Illyrian coast. With him were scrolls vital to the safety of the emperor and the future of Rome.
In AD 46. Roman centurions Cato and Macro have been posted to Judaea for a ‘hearts and minds’ operation. The Empire needs to win over the locals after some of their religious figures have started revolts. Not only are these small villages causing trouble, but there are also thousands of Parthians eager to fight Rome. With the threat of suicide attacks and even all-out war, Cato and Macro have their peace-keeping work cut out…
AD 46. Roman army officers Cato and Macro have survived many dangerous missions together. They look out for one another. They’re faithful to their Emperor. And from their men they demand bravery and ruthless efficiency. With the news that Rome’s old enemy, Parthia, is poised to unleash its might against the border kingdom of Palmyra, Cato and Macro must embark on a desperate quest to protect the Empire.
While centurions Macro and Cato are returning to Rome from a harrowing campaign against the Parthians, their transport ship is almost capsized by a tidal wave. They barely make it to the port of Matala in Crete where they are stunned to find a devastated town. An earthquake has struck the island, destroying its cities and killing thousands. In the chaotic aftermath, large bands of the island’s slaves begin to revolt. With many of the island’s troops either killed or wounded during the earthquake, the governor of the province calls on Macro and Cato for help.
When the actions of a rebel gladiator in Egypt threaten the stability of the Roman Empire, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro know he must be stopped. The locals are holding the Romans responsible for the attacks and Ajax’s crew have been making along the coast and now Egypt is dangerously volatile. Tasked with tracking and defeating the renegade, Cato and Macro are soon hot on Ajax’s trail, determined to destroy the enemy.
The city of Rome in AD 50 is a dangerous place. Treachery lurks on every corner, and a shadowy Republican movement, ‘the Liberators’, has spread its tentacles wide. It is feared that the heart of the latest plot lies in the ranks of the Praetorian Guard. Uncertain of whom he can trust, the Imperial Secretary Narcissus summons to Rome Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro. Tasked with infiltrating the Guard, Cato and Macro face a daunting test to win the trust of their fellow soldiers.
Britannia, AD 51. For nearly a decade, the Roman Empire has fought to assert its hold over Britannia. But relentless opposition from native tribes led by the fanatical King Caratacus threatens to destroy everything. Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro are dispatched from Rome to aid the campaign. Placed in command of an outpost in the remote western mountains. But first, they must wrench control of the fort from Centurion Quertus, a man who wages a savage personal war and inspires a loyalty in his men above their bond with Rome.
The Roman Empire’s conquest of Britannia is under threat from within. Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro must uncover a traitor to prevent unthinkable defeat. A messenger on the streets of Rome has been intercepted and tortured, revealing a plot to sabotage the Roman army’s campaign against Caratacus. Unwarned, Cato and Macro are with the Roman army pursuing Caratacus and his men through the mountains of Britannia. Defeating Caratacus finally seems within their grasp.
Roman Britain, AD 52. The western tribes prepare to make a stand. But can they match the discipline and courage of the legionaries? Wounded Centurion Macro remains behind in charge of the fort as Prefect Cato leads an invasion deep into the hills. Cato’s mission: to cement Rome’s triumph over the natives by crushing the Druid stronghold. But with winter drawing in, the terrain is barely passable through icy rain and snowstorms.
It is AD 54. Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, have survived years of campaigning in Britannia and have been recalled to Rome. Their time in the teeming, dangerously political city is short, and soon they are travelling with the Praetorian Guard to Spain, a restless colony where simmering tension in the face of Roman rule is aggravated by bitter rivalry amongst the natives. The challenges that face two old friends and their comrades in arms are unlike any they have seen before…
The Emperor Claudius is dead. Nero rules. His half-brother Britannicus has also laid claim to the throne. A bloody power struggle is underway. All Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro want is a simple army life, fighting with their brave and loyal men. But Cato has caught the eye of rival factions determined to get him on their side. To survive, Cato must play a cunning game, and enlist the help of the one man in the Empire he can trust: Macro.
The wily Parthian Empire has invaded Roman-ruled Armenia, ousting King Rhadamistus. The King is ambitious and ruthless, but he is loyal to Rome. General Corbulo must restore him to power, while also readying the troops for war with the powerful Parthian Empire. Corbulo welcomes new arrivals Cato and Macro, experienced soldiers who know how to knock into shape an undermanned unit of men ill-equipped for conflict. It’s a dangerous game to restore a deposed king.
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