Saga of Atilus

Set against the immense decadence of Imperial Rome, the story of Atilus depicts the glory, the spectacle, and the blood-lust of the gladitorial games in all their savagery. In the third year of the reign of Claudius, a young boy, Atilus Cindras, watches in terror as the Roman legions plunder, rape, and route the proud Icení warriors of Britain. When they leave, they take the young men with them as slaves--and Atilus is among them. Trained first as a house slave, then as a secutor in the School for Gladíators, Atilus soon learns how to survive both slavery and the arena. Using his sword and wits with fierce and deadly skill, Atílus becomes a favorite of the Roman mob. But even that's not enough. Atilus fights with only one goal in mind: to attain the rarely awarded rudis--the wooden sword from the Emperor's hands that will grant him his freedom! The first book in the thrilling Atilus series.

From the cold, misty shores of Britain, which the Emperor Claudius had invaded, Atilus Cindras was taken as a boy slave to work and fight for the greater glory of the Roman Empire. Eventually, he was sent to a gladiator school, and there trained to fight-and perhaps die-in the arena. But Atilus survives the years of decadent slaughter, and gradually gains power and riches as he navigates through the steamy politics of ancient Rome under the Emperor Nero. But Nero is a spoiled, selfish ruler who is forever seeking the favor of the Roman masses. And when he decides to appease the people's lust for something new and original in the ring, he picks Atilus to train the first troupe of female gladiators. Little does Atilus know, however, that he's being played, both by the Emperor and by his cronies-just a little joke: a second troupe of female fighters to be pitted against the twenty women that Atilus is managing. And if Atilus loses, he'll be made a slave once more! The second novel in the Atilus Saga features more rousing action and political intrigue by a master storyteller!

As a young boy Atilus Cindras had been taken from Britain to Rome as a slave, and trained in the gruesome arts of the gladiators. Fueled by his hatred for Rome, he'd risen to the top of his killing trade with his fierce and deadly skill, and won the coveted Rudis, the wooden sword that gave him his freedom. But he wants more from Rome than this, and gambles all of his money on a commercial venture that fails. Now deeply in debt, he's pulled into a partnership with wealthy patricians who want to use his knowledge as a lanista--a manager of gladiators--to make them all rich. When one of his backers betrays him, and when Rome erupts in fire in the summer heat, Atilus must use every skill, every bit of knowledge, to save himself and his new British wife from the all-engulfing flames, and then somehow find a way to return to his native land. The stunning, action-filled conclusion to the Atilus Trilogy!