Reviews of the First Two Novels in the Trilogy
Most Enjoyable! I couldn't put it down!
Outstanding, enjoyed the book. Book made the era understandable and made Titus a real person. Thank you and continue writing similar themes.
Reviews of Other Novels by H A Culley
Outstanding author, very descriptive, moves FAST!
Don't pick up this book if you need a good night's sleep. You're going to be up all night until you finish it.
Good, informative historical novel
BOOK DESCRIPTION
This is the second novel of a trilogy charting Constantine the Great’s rise to power as seen through the eyes of Titus, an officer in his bodyguard and the military adviser to his eldest son, Crispus. When Constantine’s brother in law, Licinius, Emperor of the Eastern Empire, declares war on a rival for his throne, Constantine sends Crispus and Titus with his fleet to assist him. After Licinius' victory, Crispus and Titus are betrayed and, after surviving a violent storm, are imprisoned by their erstwhile ally on a remote island. During an attack by pirates they are rescued by Titus’ wife, Flavia.
Constantine declares war on Licinius for his perfidy and the latter eventually sues for peace. During the campaign Crispus proves himself to be a gifted commander and, at sixteen, he is appointed as Caesar of the West and given Gaul to rule. However, this merely antagonizes Constantine’s scheming empress, Fausta, who wants her own baby son to be named as heir apparent in place of Crispus. She arranges for her stepson to be poisoned, but the plot is foiled through the courage of a slave.
Constantine wins the campaign to drive the invading Sarmatians back over the Danube whilst Crispus and Titus, now a general, are having similar success against the Alemanni and the Vandals on the Rhine frontier. The three are awarded a joint triumph in Rome and during this Fausta tries yet again to engineer Crispus’ assassination, with tragic consequences.
Crispus falls in love whilst in Rome and marries but, just after his son is born, he is forced to leave his family when trouble between Constantine and Licinius breaks out again when the latter encourages the Visigoths to invade. Constantine is now faced with the biggest challenge to his rule of the Western Roman Empire.
