Roman Mask by Thomas M D Brooke
Augustus Caesar rules Imperial Rome at the height of its power, as the Roman Empire stretches across the known world. Cassius, son of one of her most powerful families, is the personification of Rome’s imperial strength: wealthy, popular, a war hero with a decorated military career – none of Rome’s fashionable parties are complete without…
Augustus Caesar rules Imperial Rome at the height of its power, as the Roman Empire stretches across the known world. Cassius, son of one of her most powerful families, is the personification of Rome’s imperial strength: wealthy, popular, a war hero with a decorated military career – none of Rome’s fashionable parties are complete without him – except, he hides a secret.
After his nerve is broken in Germany, the thought of genuine armed combat is enough to send him into a cold sweat of fear and shame. But this doesn’t dissuade him from living off a false reputation so he can continue a life of casual affairs, wine, and parties, as he is seduced by the many vices of Rome.
However his scandalous life is soon upset by a summons from the Emperor’s wife. It ends his happy decadent life and returns him to Germany to assist the Roman legions in their greatest ever trial, and the events that will resound down in history, in the dark forests of the Teutoburg.
” Varus, give me back my Legions!”
Five Star Review on Amazon By Michaela S
Must admit that I read the book in the first place because the author is a former colleague, and as I admire and support any attempt to do something completely else beside one’s every day work routine, I just had to check out on Tom actually publishing a book! And to my big surprise, the story deals with the historical events in the Teutoburg Forest, which is only a few steps away from where I was raised in Germany – countless times I have passed in front of the Hermann monument in Detmold (that actually celebrated its 140th anniversary last week) and everyone in the region knows the story of the battle against the Roman Empire represented by Varus, so the story itself was not new to me and there was no surprise about what would happen, but this did not take away the pleasure of reading the book, because I really enjoyed how the story developed via the point of view of the fictional main character. I strongly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys historical novels! You won’t be disappointed.