Showing results for "Searching for God" in Ancient

436 AD. The Burgundars are confident of destroying Rome's legions. Their forces are strong and they have beaten the Romans in battle before. But they are annihilated, their king killed, his people scattered. Their fabled treasure is lost. For Rome has new allies: the Huns, whose taste for bloodshed knows no bounds.

The line of war elephants scattered the lightly armored Velites. In retreat, the skirmishers filtered through the Legion ranks. Not that it made a difference, but the First Maniple wore heavier armor and grasped bigger shields. But like the Velites, the Legionaries were no match for the enormous beasts. Tusks capped with bronze tips swung, defining the width of destruction expected by each Century. Archers on the backs of the animals launched arrows into the Legion ranks. Legionaries fell from the arrows, were pulled back and off their combat lines. Those were the lucky ones.

Lucius Falerius is dead, and Rome in its entirety mourns the passing of its most powerful senator. It falls to his son Marcellus to carry out his father's legacy and restore the rights promised to the defeated Sicilian slaves, yet there are those who will not see the honour of Rome compromised and the slaves assuaged. On the Roman border provinces there is trouble, and the legions move north to neutralise the threat posed by the Celts.

378 AD: Fritigern's Gothic horde tightens its iron grip on Thracia and only a handful of well-walled cities to the south remain in imperial hands. The few tattered legions pinned in these cities can only watch on from the battlements as smoke rises across their lost lands and the Goths roam at will, pillaging and extorting. Every Roman—legionary or citizen—speaks of only one thing: the Emperors of East and West, Valens and Gratian, who are said to be closing swiftly on this war-stricken land, each bringing with them vast armies capable of vanquishing the horde.

Arimnestos of Plataea grew up wanting to be a bronzesmith, like his father. Then, in the chaos of war, he was taken to a city in the Persian empire and sold as a slave. To win his freedom he had to show that he could fight and kill. Now, to preserve that freedom, he must kill again. For the Persians are coming. A vast army sent by King Darius to put down the rebellious Greeks and burn the city of Athens to the ground. Standing against them on the plain of Marathon is a much smaller force of Athenians, alongside their Plataean allies. To defeat such overwhelming force seems impossible.

From bestselling author Joan Wolf comes a sweeping retelling of Esther's story, where palace intrigue, forbidden love, and divine purpose collide. Perfect for fans of Francine Rivers and Angela Hunt, A Reluctant Queen brings the biblical tale of courage and romance to vivid life. "Joan Wolf...