Jack Ludlow Boeken

"One shall tame a mighty foe, the other strike to save Rome's fame, neither will achieve their aim. Look aloft if you dare, though what you fear cannot fly, both will face it before you die" Aulus is dead. Hailed as a hero of the republic, his sons, Quintus and Titus have new and heavy responsibilities placed upon them. Lucius, now the most powerful, and sinister, senator in Rome, is keen to manipulate the Cornelii family to achieve his own goals. Meanwhile the young Aquila lives in Spain with dreams of becoming a powerful solider to fight for Rome and discover his destiny that is hidden within his Eagled amulet.

Having returned from Abyssinia, soldier of fortune Cal Jardine is convinced to travel to Barcelona and help facilitate rival athletic games to the Berlin Olympics. But now he finds himself in Spain as the first shots of civil war ring out; and the demands of friendship, love, and politics embroil Jardine once again in foreign war.

A cave hacked out of the rock, lit by flickering torches - two young boys appeal to the famed Roman oracle for a glimpse into their future. The Sybil draws a blood-red shape of an eagle with wings outstretched. An omen of death. As they flee from the cave in fear, Aulus and Lucius make an oath of loyalty until death.

1935: Harry Jardine is a soldier of fortune. Forced to flee Hamburg after helping Jews escape Nazi Germany, he is recruited to smuggle guns from Rumania into Abyssinia, under threat of Italian invasion. But seeing how ill-equipped the Ethiopians are to face the Italian army, can Jardine just walk away?

As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the Fuehrer's land-hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove zechoslovakia is threatened with invasion.

The Pope has called for a Crusade to free Jerusalem, and half the warriors of Europe have responded. Among them is the Norman, Count Bohemund, one-time enemy of Byzantium. His first task, pushing back the Infidel Turks, calls for an alliance with old enemy Emperor Alexius. But can the Crusaders trust the wily Emperor?

Thanks to the stratagems of Bohemund de Hauteville,the Crusade has taken the city of Antioch.A huge Turkish-led army is fast approaching. With the enemy at his front and his warring peers at his back, can he gain the mighty city of Antioch once and for all? Only one of the greatest battles of the age will decide.

Under Robert Guiscard, the de Hautevilles have grown in importance and power throughout Italy and, through the Papacy, all of Christendom. Now it is Robert's son Bohemund's turn to take up arms - the opportunity to fight under the papal banner in the Holy Lands could bring him the glory and riches he desires.

Lucius Falerius is dead, and Rome in its entirety mourns the passing of its most powerful senator. It falls to his young 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. The confederation of Celtic tribes is united under one Chieftain, the formidable and unpredictable Brennos, yet there is a plot to see him dead and the confederation broken. For Brennos, the treachery comes from within his own family, for which he will exact a brutal and bloody revenge.