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Contents ( 111)
  1. BY ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY
  2. CONTENTS
  3. MAP
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. I
  6. In the hill country
  7. Nearer the Euphrates
  8. The same night
  9. II
  10. The temporary camp of Legio VIIII Hispana, Fifty-five miles east of Cyrrhus
  11. Fifteen days before the Kalends of March
  12. III
  13. On the training grounds outside Zeugma
  14. Fifth day before the Nones of March
  15. In the house of Simon the merchant, Nicopolis
  16. The next day
  17. IV
  18. The temporary camp of Legio VIIII Hispana
  19. V
  20. Outside Nicopolis
  21. Eleventh day before the Kalends of April
  22. Nicopolis
  23. The same day
  24. VI
  25. On the road to the crossing at Zeugma
  26. Tenth day before the Kalends of April
  27. VII
  28. Zeugma
  29. Seventh day before the Kalends of April
  30. VIII
  31. The camp of VIIII Hispana
  32. One day before the Nones of April
  33. Nicopolis
  34. The same day, late afternoon
  35. IX
  36. Outside Nicopolis
  37. Eighth Day before the Ides of April
  38. X
  39. Near Nicopolis
  40. A little later
  41. XI
  42. In the plain in front of Nicopolis
  43. The Ides of April
  44. Nicopolis
  45. The same night
  46. XII
  47. In front of Nicopolis
  48. Eighteenth day before the Kalends of May First day of the siege
  49. XIII
  50. Outside Nicopolis
  51. Seventeenth day before the Kalends of May Second day of the siege
  52. XIV
  53. Outside Nicopolis
  54. Fifteenth day before the Kalends of May The fourth day of the siege
  55. Nicopolis
  56. The sixth day of the siege
  57. XV
  58. Up country
  59. Thirteenth day before the Kalends of May The eighth day of the siege
  60. XVI
  61. Zeugma
  62. That same night
  63. XVII
  64. The siege lines outside Nicopolis
  65. Eleventh day before the Kalends of May The tenth day of the siege
  66. XVIII
  67. The large camp to the east of Nicopolis
  68. Tenth day before the Kalends of May The eleventh day of the siege
  69. Nicopolis
  70. Late on the fourteenth night of the siege
  71. XIX
  72. Before Nicopolis
  73. Fifth day before the Kalends of April Sixteenth day of the siege
  74. XX
  75. Outside Nicopolis
  76. The Kalends of May The twenty-first day of the siege
  77. XXI
  78. Before Nicopolis
  79. The day before the Nones of May The twenty-sixth day of the siege
  80. Nicopolis
  81. The next day The twenty-seventh day of the siege
  82. XXII
  83. North west of Nicopolis, some miles from the road
  84. Fifth day before the Ides of May The thirty-second day of the siege
  85. XXIII
  86. In front of Nicopolis
  87. The day before the Ides of May The thirty-fifth day of the siege
  88. XXIV
  89. Outside Nicopolis
  90. The Ides of May
  91. The thirty-sixth day of the siege
  92. XXV
  93. The breach in the western wall
  94. XXVI
  95. Outside Nicopolis
  96. Seventeenth day before the Kalends of June The thirty-seventh day of the siege
  97. The prison at Nicopolis
  98. Three days later
  99. The forty-first day of the siege
  100. XXVII
  101. The citadel at Nicopolis
  102. The last hours of the fourteenth day before the Kalends of June
  103. The forty-first day of the siege
  104. XXVIII
  105. Nicopolis
  106. The same night
  107. EPILOGUE
  108. The next morning
  109. HISTORICAL NOTE
  110. GLOSSARY
  111. CAST OF CHARACTERS

HERACLIDES A young citizen of Nicopolis and member of one its prominent families, Heraclides encountered Ferox during the fighting in front of the walls.

INDIKE Born in India, as a child, Indike became a slave and was traded into the Roman Empire. Years later, she was a dancer in an inn in Londinium in Britannia. Won in a game of dice by an ally of Ferox, she was subsequently granted her freedom and chose to marry Philo. She is small, delicately featured and elegant in her movements. B, TF

JOHN Sara’s grandfather, originally lived in Jotopata in Galilee. As a young man he took part in the great rebellion against Nero, fighting to defend his home city, and later in the unsuccessful defence of Jerusalem. He escaped with his family and later settled in Nicopolis where his daughter married Simon the Elder.

LABERIUS MAXIMUS, MANIUS* A senator who for many years enjoyed Trajan’s favour. He served with distinction in the First Dacian War and was the emperor’s fellow consul in 103. However, at some point, he was sent into exile for an offence that is not recorded. He was executed early in Hadrian’s reign. TF

LUCIUS A legionary serving in Legio VIIII Hispana.

MATIDIA* Trajan’s niece and mother of Hadrian’s wife, Sabina. Trajan displayed great affection for her, not least granting her the title Augusta on the death of her mother. She was in turn fond of Hadrian and assisted him politically.

MEMNON An aristocrat from Nicopolis, Memnon is the senior Strategos or magistrate at the time of our story.

MESSALINUS, L. VALERIUS A tribune heavily involved in the organised corruption among the Syrian provincial army. Shortly before our story begins, he was killed by Ferox.

NICAEA A diminutive, young and very capable freedwoman working in Sara’s workshop.

PAUSANIAS A former sailor who at some point converted to Christianity, Pausanias became a gifted preacher. More experienced in the wider world than many, his wisdom, kindness and authority had a powerful influence on Domitius.

PHILO Once the slave and now the freedman of Ferox, Philo is a Jew from Alexandria. He is obsessively neat and highly efficient in everything he does, and has always had higher aspirations for Ferox’s standing than the centurion feels able to maintain. V, ES, B, TF

PLOTINA, POMPEIA* The wife of Trajan, she belonged to a senatorial family with roots in Gallia Narbonensis. No negative stories survive about her in our sources, suggesting that she performed the role of imperial consort to the satisfaction of the senatorial elite. She was believed to be instrumental in securing the accession of Hadrian after the death of her husband.

PRISCUS A legionary of VIIII Hispana and one of a trio on picket duty found to be misbehaving.

QUIETUS, LUSIUS* A member of the Mauretanian royal family, Lusius (sic) Quietus had a chequered career, including exile under Domitian. During Trajan’s Dacian Wars, he rose to prominence commanding a large contingent of Moorish light cavalry, fighting in their traditional style. Trajan rewarded him with admission to the senatorial order and employed him as one of his main field commanders in the eastern campaigns. After Trajan’s death, he was imprisoned and subsequently executed. Hadrian’s involvement in his fall from power was never proven, but was widely suspected and seems certain.