Fire in the East

Marcus Clodius Ballista is on his way to Mesopotamia to rebuild a Roman army there to protect Rome's eastern flank.  As Dix Ripae, Ballista would have the full powers of a governor except when the governor was present.   The trip on the Mediterranean in the autumn isn't without its perils.  Along the way he purchases a Persian slave who tells him that the war Ballista is about to take on is a religious war.

Arriving in Antioch, Ballista sees the evidence of the damage done by the Persians when they had taken the city.  On the way to Arete, they are joined by a group of mercenaries.  Ballista, at first is hesitant, but is impressed by their leader Iarhai.  In Palmyra, Ballista's request for troops is refused.  Is it because they fear the Persians more than Rome?

Seeing Arete on the banks of the Euphrates for the first time, Ballista has mixed feelings about its potential as a defensive base.  His bodyguard, Maximus, points out the problems with Ballista's new palace.  Ballista soon discovers that the place is undermanned and that the tribune and centurion had been robbing the empire.  The tribune has disappeared.  Rather than punish the centurion, Turpio, Ballista places him in charge of the cohort.

Ballista sets about improving the defences of Arete and ensuring that supplies would enable them to withstand a long siege.  However, shortly after this, an arsonist sets fire to the arsenal.  Although it is destroyed, some of the material is saved.  Ballista sets to building a larger one, and ensuring that it will be better protected.  In order for that to happen people are going have to give up their homes.

Early in the spring, Ballista is ambushed while out checking on a nearby fort.  Fortunate to escape, the realisation comes that they have a traitor in their midst.  Not long after that, the Persian army arrives to lay siege to Arete.  The defenders are vastly outnumbered; can they withstand any attacks?

Author Harry Sidebottom's historical novel is an exciting read and brings to light an era that is not well known.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.