AD 68. The tyrant emperor Nero has no son & no heir. Suddenly there's the very real possibility that Rome might become a republic once more. But the ambitions of a few are about to bring corruption chaos & untold bloodshed to the many. Among them is a hero of the campaign against Boudicca Aulus Caecina Severus. Caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow Caesar's dynasty he commits treason raises a rebellion faces torture & intrigue
- all supposedly for the good of Rome. The boundary between the good of Rome & self preservation is far from clear & keeping to the dangerous path he's chosen requires all Severus' skills as a cunning soldier & increasingly deft politician. & so Severus looks back on the dark & dangerous time history knows as the Year of the Four Emperors & the part he played
- for good or ill
- in plunging the mighty Roman empire into anarchy & civil war...