The Gaius Marius Chronicle is the memoir of a retired Roman soldier, Gaius Marius Insubrecus, a legionary who served Caesar during his wars in Gaul and in the Roman civil wars, and who then supported Caesar’s heir, Octavius, in his struggle against Caesar’s assassins and against Antony and Cleopatra.
The Swabian Affair, the third book of the Gaius Marius Chronicle, tells the story of Caesar’s march to the Rhine with a mutinous Roman army, depleted and exhausted from its battle against the Helvetians. Caesar must defeat a mystic, warrior-king, before he leads a full scale Germanic invasion of Gaul. Insubrecus must prevent a war from breaking out between Caesar’s Gallic allies while protecting himself from the murderous vengeance of a Roman assassin.
From The Swabian Affair
I realized I was revealing too much to Grennadios, so I changed the subject. “What do you know of a Roman merchant named Marcus Metius?”
“Metius!” Grennadios snorted. “Metius is no mercahant … he is iktis … mustela … a rat-eater …he would trade his mother’s honor for a clipped drachma … he trades in information … he works for whomever will pay … he serves only himself.”
“Do you know anything about a Roman who travels with him?” I asked. “A thug named Bulla.”
I thought I saw Grennadios’ eyes widen, then he shuttered. “That one? That one has no … no psyche … no life force in him …he is the bringer of death … that one you stay away from, phile mou.”
Stay away from him … if only I could.
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