AD 406. Abandoned by friends and hounded by enemies, Roman cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor and a small band of loyal warriors know that the time has come to leave an increasingly fractured Britannia.
Their journey takes them across the bleak, pirate-infested seas of the Mare Germanicum to Saxonia and on into the dark heart of barbarism.
It seems the Britons’ only salvation lies with an old comrade, General Stilicho — based far to the east but still within the sanctuary of the Empire.
But the general has troubles of his own: his influence with the Emperor Honorius is waning, and a great warrior people are on the march — for Radagaisus, king of the Ostrogoths, has promised his subjects all the riches of Italia, and they will leave a sea of Roman bones in their wake.
But as Marcus and his companions battle their way towards what they hope will a safe haven of sorts, they stumble across a secret which could decide the fate of the Empire. Who can they really trust, and can Marcus reach Stilicho in time?
Because his every step is dogged by a son who wants him dead…
The Barbarian by Douglas Jackson is published on 8 June, 2023.
Douglas’s previous Marcus Flavius Victor book, The Wall, is also published today, in a paperback edition.
You might enjoy the feature he wrote about The Wall, Vanity project or lasting legacy – was Hadrian’s Wall worth all the effort?
