Soldier of Rome: The Legionary

The Artorian Chronicles #1

by James Mace

**Revised 2012 Edition**

Rome's Vengeance

In the year A.D. 9, three Roman Legions under Quintilius Varus were betrayed by the Germanic war chief, Arminius, and destroyed in the forest known as Teutoburger Wald. Six years later Rome is finally ready to unleash Her vengeance on the barbarians. The Emperor Tiberius has sent his adopted son, Germanicus Caesar, into Germania with an army of forty-thousand legionaries. The come not on a mission of conquest, but one of annihilation. With them is a young legionary named Artorius. For him the war is a personal vendetta; a chance to avenge his brother, who was killed in Teutoburger Wald. In Germania Arminius knows the Romans are coming. He realizes that the only way to fight the legions is through deceit, cunning, and plenty of well-placed brute force. In truth he is leery of Germanicus, knowing that he was trained to be a master of war by the Emperor himself. The entire Roman Empire held its collective breath as Germanicus and Arminius faced each other in what would become the most brutal and savage campaign the world had seen in a generation; a campaign that could only end in a holocaust of fire and blood.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, War, Military Fiction

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2012

About the author

James Mace is an author, historian, and life-long storyteller. He began writing as a hobby in the early 2000s, penning physical fitness articles for a bodybuilding website and a magazine called Hardcore Muscle.

James wrote the initial draft of his first novel, Soldier of Rome: The Legionary, as a cathartic means of escapism while serving in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He has since released thirty-five books, including fifteen Ancient History best-sellers, and five South African History best-sellers. His works currently span his two favourite eras: Ancient Rome and the British Empire.

Outside of writing historical novels, James is a Research Historian and Script Writer for the channel, Redcoat History. He maintains a blog called The Buffed Historian, sharing random fitness articles and other tales from across history. His hobbies include weightlifting, road cycling, foothills hikes, travelling across the globe, live theatre, video games, and sitting down for a game of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

James can be reached via his website: www.legionarybooks.net
Official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/legionarybooks
Instagram: @legionarybooks
Threads: @legionarybooks
BlueSky: @legionarybooks.bsky.social
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/james...

Reviews

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you a fan of movies like The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra or Laurence of Arabia? If you answered yes, then you will probably enjoy this book.
For me, it was just like watching a movie on the Roman Empire, though there were many new characters to me, even though they are reality based.
Lots of action and edge-of-your-seat battles, that keep an avid reader interested.
My only gripe is the bland way it was written. The words came together to tell a story, but getting there was long and hard for me. The way the story flowed, I felt at times I had to trudge through it to get to the exciting parts.
With that said, it was a decent read in the end, and I think history lovers will really enjoy it.

[Pepca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main quality of this book is in its historical accuracy fictionalised into a well-told story. James Mace combines his military expertise with historical facts to present an evidently thoroughly researched subject in an appealing way.

Soldier of Rome: The Legionary is a book about Roman defeat and retaliation in Teutoburger forest, but most of all it is a presentation of what the author calls the Roman war machine – a Roman legion as a whole and a legionary as an individual – the key element for the supremacy of the ancient Rome in the then known world.

The life of the legionaries, from training to everyday life during peace, war, and festivities is presented in details, as we follow the story of Artorius from his boyhood to becoming an accomplished member of a legion.

I have mixed feelings about Artorius as a character. He is a complex character in the true sense of the word, making the reader hate him, love him, admire him, despise him, and sympathise with him. The loss of his older brother in Teutoburger Wald and consequential death of their mother when he was a young boy affects Artorius with grave sadness which develops into a burning vindictiveness. He grows up with one goal only – to join the legion and avenge his brother.

However, his growing-up starts anew when he begins the training of a legionary. Soon he learns that any accomplishment depends not only on his abilities but primarily on working together with his colleagues. I see a Roman legion, as presented in this book, as a perfect example of a society bringing together the importance of an individual and of a community. Great accomplishments and progress of the civilization are possible only when people can thrive as individuals while they contribute their effort to the joint goals of the community.

Artorius soon learns to put the common goals first in order to achieve his own goal. His blind vindictiveness is contrasted by a necessity to follow orders and by empathy for the innocent people. A conflict between ethics and executing orders is raised in this book, too, but as in life it has no conclusive solution. Nevertheless, James Mace puts it very well: “The army is only as noble and honourable as the men who serve in it.”

Another great discrepancy in this book is between the attitude of the legionaries towards their wives, mothers, and daughters and the women of their enemies, and prostitutes. I find Artorius’s behaviour towards his ex-lover Camilla, although she is not a likable character, especially disturbing and intolerable.

James Mace does not spare the reader with violence and atrocities of warfare. The cruelties from both sides are equally represented, as well as the viewpoints upon the same things from the Romans and the Germanic tribes, the common soldiers and their leaders.

There is a lot of specific terminology, which makes the book somewhat slow to read. The glossary the author includes at the beginning of the book is very helpful to clear some confusion while reading. Apart from this and a very few grammatical errors and typos, Soldier of Rome: The Legionary is a good book with quite a straightforward, but capturing plotline.

RECOMMENDATION: This book provides one of the best presentations of Roman military I have ever read. I recommend it to anyone interested in history of ancient Rome, especially in the structure and functioning of its legions, if you can bear graphic descriptions of violence.

3.5/5 stars

[Sensitivemuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I go further into reviewing this book, I am going to say, it’s a “guys” book. No fancy schmancy romantic war ideas, no going back to a tear stained love interest who was waiting for him to come back home or silly sappy love drama to make you cringe, etc etc you get the hint. This is full on brutal war descriptions, with the emphasis on brotherhood and fighting together against all odds.

The author did a really good job with his homework in making this book as historically accurate as possible, even providing footnotes, and where he got them from. I liked the amount of historical detail put into this book so every little moment was easily pictured, and descriptions of Roman military tactics, their weapons, and how they fought was well written. The plot was simple, and although it has been done before, it still served as a good basic story to introduce Artorius to the reader.

His development as a soldier was well done, although one could only assume the worst as it seemed that Artorius just got more angrier throughout the novel. The other characters in the book served as just supporting cast, although I wish there was more to them - although some had distinct personalities (Valens with his women, Magnus and his Northern ancestry) I wish there was just more development with them as I wanted to know more about these other characters too. It is a brutal book, battle scenes are written with extreme detail and the amount of violence is high. Although realistic because war is never something to be taken lightly, the sheer brutality of it described in this book may deter the readers from reading this.

The only other criticism I could see, is some readers might thing the testosterone level in this book really reaches its’ limits. It might be a turn off for some, I didn’t mind as it did seem obvious this book does cater to the male demographic. (Let’s just say, Artorius turns out to be a very very frustrated man, har har).

I thought it was very well done, and I want to keep reading the rest of this series. I’d like to know what happens next! I greatly recommend this to others who are fond of military history, or who love a good book about Ancient Rome.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a self-published novel full of typos and written in a pedestrian style, but it captures perfectly the soldier life in the roman legions under Augustus as far as we know it from historical records. Add to that interesting characters, superb battle scenes and a very nuanced and most likely closer to truth portrait of Tiberius than in Robert Graves and the classical historians and the book gets five stars from me and I am in for the series as long as it keeps delivering similar novels.

[Heavensent1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soldier of Rome: The Legionary is Book One of The Artorian Chronicles.

In A.D. 9, three Roman Legions under the leadership of Quintilius Varus were almost annihilated by the treacherous Germanic War Chief, Arminius. The Legions were being rallied to go take care of some Barbarian upheavals and while marching through Teutoburger Wald, the betrayal of Arminius is released and almost all of the men are destroyed.

However, a few of them managed to fight their way to freedom while watching and hearing the fighting of their comrades and the murders of their families as they desparately try to overcome the dangerous surroundings in which they were lead. Feeling shame and degradation, the few remaining survivors return to their keep and are surprised to be welcomed with open arms and asked to return to their places of honour amongst the Legionnaires.

Six years later, the whole of Rome is ready for its revenge on the Teutoburger Wald massacre, and none more so than Artorius, who was nine at the time his brother, Metellus was killed during the raid. Artorius has vowed from that day that he would do all that he could to be the best Legionnaire there is in order to exact the punishment the Germanic warriors and their families deserve.

With skill and strength, Artorius continues to prove his worth and exact his revenge, rising amongst his comrades thru the ranks. His skill on the battlefield cannot be matched and his focus is true, oftentimes his guilt racks him for the suffering he has caused; he reminds himself of the atrocities the Germans had done to his own kind and his vigor is renewed.

I would give this a three and a half stars out of five. I thought it was decently written however, there seemed to lack something, in which I am unable to pinpoint, but something was lacking in the descriptions of the battles, which were too short in some instances, and the interaction with the characters.

I enjoyed Artorius and most of the Legionnaires, it was very interesting to read what life could have been like for those who have made war their life. The training involved seemed intense and vigorous and the nights cold and lonely. The reason to exact revenge was believable and you could feel for some of the warriors as they reminisced about that day in history.

I thought Tiberius and Germanicus were well written and they added a flavourful appeal to the story, giving us a look at all sides of the Roman campaigns, from the Ceasar down to the lowliest military rank. I enjoyed the descriptions of the military ranks and the author was kind enough to include a glossary of terms, for those who need to be refreshed as to each of the attributes found within the Roman Legions. As well, we are given historical time lines in order to either further research what you have read or to keep track of where the story is compared to our own history of the times.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good military read from an ancient band of warriors who have amassed themselves in our mainstream, reminding us of the valour and bravery of the men of old. There are many graphic battle scenes so it is not for the weak of heart, the swearing involved is of modern terms and bothered me a little, not that I was there to know, but I don't think they used the terms of today back in A.D. 15. I would've liked to have seen the true expletives that they would have used instead of today's modern slang. I believe that James Mace has a decent backbone in which to continue with this series and I look forward to reading more!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, educational and historically accurate read. I enjoyed the detailed, accurate and realistic descriptions of the life of a legionnaire, military tactics and battle sequences. There was some character development, but at the end the characters were left simple when more complexity and not rounding off the character arc would have been interesting. Everything in the story was very realistic and believable without any obvious exaggeration which can take away from similar stories. Some of the scenes were hard to read due to their graphicness, but this added to the depth and realism of the novel and was not gratuitous. I finished the novel looking forward to the sequel.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: One small spoiler to point out deviation from historical record

The first book in James Mace's Artorian Chronicles opens during the dramatic final moments of the disastrous ambush in Teutoburger Vald when Germanic tribes under the leadership of one-time Roman auxiliary officer, Arminius, wipe out the 17th, 18th and 19th legions of the first Roman emperor Augustus. A few desperate survivors struggle through boggy marshes trying to rejoin their unit and defend their last few brethren from sacrifice to the barbarian's blood thirsty gods.

The scene changes and we meet a young Roman boy named Artorius who lives happily on his father's farm near Ostia. His father, once a Primus Pilus in the legions, was grievously wounded and forced to retire. But, he takes pride in his older son, Mettelus, who serves with the legions in Germania. Artorius, too, is fiercely proud of his older brother and dreams of joining the legions one day himself.

Then word arrives that Mettelus died heroically saving his Centurion at Teutoburger Vald. Artorius is crushed and vows to take revenge on the Germanic barbarians that took his brother's life. He trains diligently to strengthen his body so he will be ready to join the legions when he assumes his manly toga.
The day finally arrives for Artorius to enlist. His father has signed the necessary documents and written a letter of introduction. Artorius reports to the recruiting station in Ostia and soon finds himself on the way to Germania.

As Artorius undergoes training in basic weapons usage and close combat, the reader has the opportunity to learn about the proper handling and deployment of a pilum (Roman javelin), the movements to overcome the longer barabarian swords with the short, stabbing gladius and how the scutum, the distinctive rectangular shield, is maneuvered to batter an opponent or slice an enemy with its edge.

Artorius is also given instruction in the operation of siege weapons like the onager, a type of Roman catapult, and scorpion, a kind of automated cross bow.

Artorius discovers that a childhood friend, Pontius Pilate, is one of the legion's artillery officers. I thought that this was interesting as there is little information about Pilate's early military career. However, in the Russian satire, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, it is mentioned that Pontius Pilate fought in Germania during this period.

Mace vividly describes life as a legionary recruit, including their daily chores like cooking a breakfast of wheat cakes and bacon, as well as daily visits to the bath house. Artorius makes friends of the other seven men in his tent and meets his instructors, centurions and commanding officers, so we also learn about their pasts, their motivations and any ambitions they may have. Mace does an outstanding job of characterization and clearly his own military experience has given him insight into the development of comradery within a fighting unit.

Finally, Artorius is sworn into the Legio XX Valeria Victrix 2nd cohort as a full fledged legionary. But, his comrades and training officers are concerned about his anger over his brother's death and desire for revenge. This becomes apparent during the first raid on a Germanic village when Artorius wounds a barbarian then, rather than giving the man a quick death, grinds a flaming torch into his face.

As the novel progresses, Artorius' legendary commander, Germanicus, leads the army of the Rhine on a vicious campaign of revenge against the Cherusci, the tribe of the traitor Arminius, as well as their allied tribes. This campaign historically occurred between 14 and 16 CE. Mace handles the battle sequences very well and you hear, see and smell combat from the viewpoint of those fighting in the front ranks, both Roman and German.

Artorius also helps recover the remains of the earlier Varian disaster, tracing the final struggle described by a surviving Centurion to his brother, giving his brother proper burial and releasing his shade to eternal rest.

The final battle at Idistaviso on the banks of the Weser River was not only riveting but an excellent description of Roman battle tactics employing infantry, cavalry and both types of Roman artillery. Although Tacitus gives us a general outline of the battle, Mace filled in the details quite expertly. Finally, Artorius' desire for revenge is more than sated as the legions slaughter thousands (10,000-20,000 according to Tacitus).

Mace has obviously done extensive research in preparation for this novel and rarely deviates from the historical record. One exception I noticed was Artorius kills Arminius' uncle, Inguiomerus, in the final battle of Idistaviso and garners his first silver torq for valor. But, both Arminius and Inguiomerus escaped the battle of Idistaviso.

Tacitus says, "As for Inguiomerus, who flew hither and thither over the battlefield, it was fortune rather than courage which forsook him." (Tacitus, Book 2.21)

I see how this somewhat vague statement gives Mace an opportunity to interpret Inguiomerus' loss of fortune on the battlefield. However, as I read Tacitus further I found that Inguiomerus could not have been killed, because Tacitus tells us he later deserted Arminius in a war with Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni.

"For when the Romans had departed and they were free from the fear of an invader, these tribes, according to the custom of the race, and then specially as rivals in fame, had turned their arms against each other. The strength of the two nations, the valour of their chiefs were equal. But the title of king rendered Maroboduus hated among his countrymen, while Arminius was regarded with favour as the champion of freedom."

"Thus it was not only the Cherusci and their allies, the old soldiers of Arminius, who took up arms, but even the Semnones and Langobardi from the kingdom of Maroboduus revolted to that chief. With this addition he [Arminius] must have had an overwhelming superiority, had not Inguiomerus deserted with a troop of his dependants to Maroboduus, simply for the reason that the aged uncle scorned to obey a brother's youthful son." - Tacitus, The Annals, Book 2.44-45

However, for the purposes of drama, Mace's choice increased the esteem for the young legionary in the eyes of his comrades (important for subsequent novels) and was not disruptive to the main historical events that occurred in the narrative.

I recommend this novel not only for entertainment but as an excellent introduction to what life was like for a common soldier in the legions (so many other novels are written from the command perspective instead), I also definitely look forward to reading the other books in this series. That is actually a pretty tall order in itself as James Mace is such a prolific author he has penned twelve books since publishing The Legionary in 2006 and only retired from a full-time career in the U.S. Army National Guard just three years ago. Although he has now branched out into writing books about the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, he has not abandoned ancient Rome entirely and just released book 2 of a new trilogy about the Roman-Jewish War of 66 to 73 CE.

[Tammy Bulcao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised!

(Books1-3)
I suppose I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I started this book. In the beginning and actually often times during this series I found myself a little confused, but a lot intrigued lol. But “it’s not you it’s me” lol I’m not exactly a historical genius (not even much of a historical fan 🤷🏻‍♀️) so the places & names were somewhat unfamiliar to me. That said, I couldn’t stop reading/listening to this amazing story. Devastating, sad and disheartening, but at the same time, fascinating and extremely entertaining.
I have to admit, the only reason I started this series is because I think narrator Jonathan Waters is one of the best story tellers out there. He has a great voice which is absolutely perfect for this genre.
This review is for books 1-3 in this series. If you are a fan of this era I highly recommend this series.

Sisters Spotlight 💜

[Drew Widney · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely loved this book. found the author randomly on instagram, in the spirit of supporting indie authors I followed him. Love Rome so figured why not support this guy and buy a book despite its home made look. Was nervous it would be a dry historical account but instead its an incredibly personal, limited 3rd person story. I couldn't put it down. Loved the dialogue, loved the POV's from multiple characters, loved the dynamics that were built between each character. super excited to continue this series.

[Valorie Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Varus, give me back my legions! Anyone who knows anything about Roman history has heard those words. Just the same, anyone who knows anything about Roman history can pick out the important names and places on the back cover alone: the ill-fated Publius Quinctilius Varus; the Emperor Tiberius, successor to Augustus; and Germanicus, glorious military man and the father of the infamously corrupt Emperor Caligula. James Mace’s Soldier of Rome: The Legionary is about what takes place after the defeat at the Teutoburger Wald forest when Rome sets itself up for a retaliatory measure against the Germanic people, led by the heavily applauded Germanicus. James Mace is not a Roman historian, or an historian by training at all. Rather, he is a military man with an avid passion for Roman history. While historians know to be cautious around the world of enthusiasts who usually do not understand issues such as historiography and source creditability, I have always tried to be more fair minded than that. I liked that in the front of the book is a glossary of Roman military ranks, which is a godsend to any and all who know nothing more about the Roman military than the centurion helmet. I cannot wait to start pulling out all of my books about Rome and checking against them. It’s like a great big fun scavenger hunt of historical detail. My favorite kind. I will admit that I too know little about the Roman military in the age of Empire. My experience is with the military structure of the Republic via historians such as Livy and Plutarch, and of Late Antiquity thanks the volumes of respected historians who study the endlessly to either prove or disprove that the Roman military was a dysfunctional machine by the end of the 200s. The complicated structure of the Roman military during its height makes my head spin. Republican that I am, I wonder where the Consuls are and then remember this is a couple centuries after the Punic Wars. So you see, simply having a glossary of ranks and jobs really assisted me in what I read. You know what else impressed me? That when I flipped back to the end of the book I saw a bibliography. Very few writers who dive into historical fiction bother to give proper credit to sources or reveal where they received their historian information. Perhaps they feel as fiction writers they do not have to disclose their sources or give credit where credit is due, but I am a stuffy nonfictionists who feels that things should be credited. Mace lets his readers know that he got some of his information from good ol’ Tacitus who was writing around the turn of the second century CE. I only wish he had elaborated on it and revealed more of the histories he read to recreate his Roman world, and not only cited Tacitus.

The story begins with the disastrous battle of the Teutoburger Wald, which Rome mourns as military men plan and seek revenge. Loss is not something the Roman military takes lightly, after all. And enemies must be punished or annihilated. The rest of the story takes us through the early stages of retribution and then battle. A young Roman named Artorius has a personal vendetta since his brother was killed in the forest. Led by the young Germanicus, the Romans reenter battle against the Germans who pretended to be allies only to betray them. It becomes an epic battle between the forces of Germanicus, fighting for Rome, and Arminius, who is fighting to preserve his own land and his own people. The book was very exciting. “War” stories are not my thing, but the truth is that I will read anything about Romans. I just dig them. But this book was more than the overtly masculine posturing of male valor, and went beyond the tedious technicalities that bog down a lot of historical writing of the military nature where military maneuvers are described in long and diagram-free detail. I did wish that there was more... Roman context in it. Hidden beneath the surface are important Roman values, norms of respect and rank, and military training. I was also a bit confused about the naming of the characters in the book. But again, this could just be me, as a Republican, understanding Republican conventions of prenomen, nomen, cognomen, etc, as well as what the difference between Claudius and Clodius is. I wanted to be fully involved in not only what it meant to be a soldier, but what it meant to be a ROMAN soldier. One of the most fascinating things about the Romans is how they were. I wish there was more about this, which would place the reader more securely in the Roman world and therefore create a more realistic story. Also, unfortunately, the book needs a good editor. There were many words misspelled and even a mistake on the back cover book description. That alone could cause a lot of people to disregard the book and never give it a chance. It is clear, though, that Mace truly does love the Roman military and has put more research into them than your average person or even hobby historical enthusiast. It was a good and worthwhile read, I think, and puts me one book closer to my ultimate goal of reading every fiction book I can find set the era of the Romans

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. It is the first novel from a returning Iraq War veteran, and offers some exciting passages on close-quarters combat in a Roman frontier legion. However the storytelling pace lags in other places significantly. A lot should be cut out. Parts of it are very exposition-heavy, and third person omniscient perspective leads to viewpoint jumps which hurt the flow. The best parts are where the young protagonist, Artorius, is in a skirmish. He's not very likable as a person, but the battle descriptions are vivid and gripping. At 3.99, the Nook version is a steal, though there are numerous line break errors.

The biggest gripe I have with the book is that it takes massive liberties with the historical narrative. It is one thing for a character in a story to be "rah rah" about the glories of Rome, but the book entirely takes that perspective and it's quite tiresome by the end. The Germanic antagonist, Arminius, is almost never shown doing anything useful. He's either moping, watching as his men run wild, or himself running from battle, then moping some more. The accounts of both large battles- Teutoburger Wald and Germanicus' campaign in Germania Magnus- run counter to current research and feed the pro-Roman bias.* The presentation is that Arminius won his famous battle entirely by deceit and Varus' stupidity. Arminius' pregnant wife Thusnelda is shown as being no more than wistful at her capture by the Romans in A.D. 16, because at least she and her child will have a better life in Rome. Please! All the other Germans and Celts in Rome's service are presented as happy barbarians living the good life under Rome's protection. None of them felt real, whereas the Roman soldiers Mace portrays do feel real. You can tell that he likes them and admires their way of life.

All in all, if you like the Romans and military fiction, you would probably get some good reading from it. Those who want to get a sense of what daily life was like for a Roman legionary also could find interesting reading here. I'm afraid I was rather disappointed by the end, but still got some good perspective on Roman tactics and enjoyed some of the moment-by-moment presentation of what a battle is like on the ground, which I can only imagine comes in part from the author's personal experience.


* For instance, we now know that Varus' troops were not taking an unusual route to their winter camp, but were probably on one of two established north-south roads, and that the battle did not take place in the Teutoburger Wald but closer to Kalkriese. Mace's account portrays Varus' actions as those of a complete incompetent. Varus was not the sharpest tack, but he wasn't that dumb, and Arminius' achievement was greater than just leading a stupid man to his predictable doom. Germanicus' campaigns, on the other hand, are largely regarded as impetuous and unproductive, and undertaken against Tiberius' wishes. Even though it's true that the Germanic warriors suffered heavy losses, Mace's account of the Battle of Weser River has the entire Cherusci tribe being all but eliminated in the aftermath (with Arminius slipping pitifully out the back door). Not only is that not what happened, Germanicus' army was pummeled on its return to winter camp by sea storms. All in all the campaign was no glorious win, let alone "glorious justice." Tacitus claims 10,000 Roman losses to Arminius' 10,000-20,000. The following year, Arminius challenged the Germanic chieftain Maroboodus, Rome's ally, and fought him to standstill- so Arminius must still have had significant forces under his command. At the very least the real picture is more mixed than in Mace's presentation.

[Valentina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s not often you find a book about Roman soldiers that is not a textbook. It seems like a hard subject to move over into fiction, but this book was handled relatively well.
The story revolves Artorius, a young man who trains to become a legionary in the army. There are a lot of interesting details about Roman life, mainly about military training, which would be interesting for lovers of history. The quantity of fight scenes are well-executed, with the right amount of tension affecting the reader, but for those of you who get bored with action movies, the amount of tactical explanation might get a bit on the dull side. Even I, who love a good fight scene, found myself drifting in my reading during some of these scenes. There are good moments, though, some comedic scenes which are written with skill. What I felt the most was that it wasn’t as balanced as it could be. There were entire chapters of mostly action, while other ones were about trivial conversations that had little to do with the plot.
The characters are alright. Artorius, though brave, is not lovable, which is a problem since he is the protagonist. Some of the side characters, such as Magnus or Vitruvius, are much more interesting, much more rounded characters. The women are either all prostitutes or unfaithful girlfriends and wives, which was not too fun for me to read. I understand that there was no such thing as feminism in ancient Rome, but still, it gets frustrating to read about these pointless women passing like ghosts through men’s lives.
This is a hard one for me to recommend. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I think if there had been a stronger main character, it could have been good, but as it is, it left me with a bit of a hollow feeling. I have the second book in the series to review, and I’m not sure what to expect. Hopefully, Artorius will develop a bit more, enough for me to care for his success.

[John Salter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read quite a large amount of historical novels especially about the Roman era, I can quite honestly say that this story is without doubt up there with the best of them. I say that because quite often I find that with some books I skip pages of text without dialogue or it just doesn't hold my attention as it should but that didn't happen with Legionary, it is a book that I found myself wanting to pick up whenever I had a spare moment and finished it quite quickly.

The story itself revolves around a young man, Artorius, who's brother was killed during the Varus disaster in the Germanic forests in AD 9, where the book begins. Six years later, eight full legions return to the site of the slaughter with Artorius on his first campaign intent on revenge. What follows is the story of this young man and those around him as they take on Arminius, the man responsible for the destruction of three legions previously.

Packed with action, battling legions, bloody battles, comradeship, humour and images of the savagery of war, James Mace has crafted a wonderfully exciting and entertaining tale in Legionary and one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I'll be getting the sequel for certain to follow the story of Artorius and if you like books of this genre, I highly recommend that you do as well, you won't be disappointed, trust me.

[Robin Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

There seem to be some very very generous reviews on this book, and that's saying something coming from me, i like to be seen to acknowledge the fact that the author has put in the time and effort to research a book, and to sit and write the book, and then all the extra unseen re-reads and editing etc.
That alone usually deserves a star or two. But as that effort seems to be almost totally lacking in this title i wanted to have 0 stars, but that's not allowed, so you may see 1 star but I didn't want to award it.
Appalling spelling, the grammar is appalling, Rome seems to have been taken over by the US marine Corp, and the blathering about the Lord. well save that for you're own time not the book, if i want a sermon i will go to church.

This really does show the perils of self publishing, I can accept self publishing that needs a little edit here and there and a bit of tightening up, but not this! If you want to see Self publishing done the right way check out SJA Turney.
(Parm)
I hate writing bad reviews but this one really was asking for it.

[Harry Hallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read countless novels about the Rome and the Roman armies. To me this book was similar to the movies about the Vietnam war movies; Full Metal Jacket and Platoon. It gives you a look at the common foot soldiers who actually won the empire for Rome. I read in one of the reviews that said the author was a returning war vet. It shows in his writing. The only thing I would say is that in the real Roman army they probably cursed a lot more than this book. :-) I understand why he avoided the cursing. I get a fair amount of grief in my own novels about language. It doesn't bother me but it does limit the audience. I don't care about that either.

I hope James Mace continues writing his books and when I see them I will buy them.

[Veljko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I read first 3 books in the series, and I think that will be it. The main reason is not; at best the mediocre writing, milion grammatical errors, poor pacing, unbelivable dialogue, American marines style humor... I read books that are less than good in writing capabilities of the author, but characters that I loved and wanted to know what happens to them. It's rarely but I happened to stumble upon couple of them.
The main problem to me is with the main mc, Artorius. I simply don't find him sympathetic, and really don't like him. I don't like how he behaves, thinks, talk...to give examples I'll have to give spoilers, so i wont do it. So, that will be it for me and this series.

[Chris Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical to a point

All those years of studying Latin as a youth filled me with stories of Ancient Rome. The past 3o years of archaeology have focused to a liege extent on the life of ordinary Romans. Other than life being nasty, short and brutish the life of a legionary was filled with “hurry up and wait”. Many had trades they could call upon to extend their salaries. The author mentions that few had any religion, my understanding is that many were devotees to any number of soldier’s cults.

[Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, just a little bit.... simplistic, maybe? I really liked it, so I am tempted to give four stars, but I think I would like to ask for a deeper appreciation for the characters first. There were so many secondary characters coming and going it was really hard to keep track, and the main character seemed just a tad one-dimensional. But it really did feel like a bit of a look inside a real Roman legion.

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Mace's other books, and this one reads quite well. It is a bit of a military manual, starting with a raw recruit and showing his training, rather speeded up as the army is to be sent off on a revenge mission. Artorius' brother had been killed with Varus' army in Germany, and so revenge is on his mind. Moves along from one battle to the next, but enough general interest to keep you going.

[JP Canny · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you're looking for history retold as fiction then this would be for you.
while accurate from what I can tell, the pacing is slow and most of it is told in passive voice. there's a lot of what I consider background that should be written into dialogue or actions of the characters.
I had to stop reading. not what I was expecting.

[Bill K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Stories

I am very happy to have found this excellent author! Many of his books are in Kindle Unlimited, which is a big plus for me. These tales are very well written, with likable heroes and despicable villains.

Authors like James Mace make history come alive for me. His books are fun to read and I suspect I gain a bit of knowledge as well.

[eric bergkvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flashman’s great great great great...grandfather.

Pretty hamfisted; I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you’re really into Roman history. Predictable and mechanical. Seems like it was written for men in their 20s, or men in their 50s who miss their 20s, and who enjoy descriptions of people with their bowels unraveling into the dirt.

[Britt, Book Habitue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate gender stereotyping books, but this is really a guy's book. Didn't work for me.

Story needed tightening and overall better editing would have been a plus, but really it was the violence and brutality that killed it for me. (No pun intended there.)

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!! What a great book to start a series with, lots of historical information pertaining to the Teutoburg Forest. This book also go into detail about the Legions way of life and daily routines that went on. Cant wait to read more from this Author.

[Ted Valmassei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking Forward to Book Two

This was an interesting start of a series. The author has done extensive research in setting up the background to this series while at the same time making the story entertaining.

[Gary M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

great history and great fiction

As a neophyte author of historical fiction I can only hope and strive that my books near the level of excellence in both research and story telling as is displayed in this book. I will read more James Mace.

[Dwayne Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story

The historical events may be accurate. However the characters of the highest ranking Roman's are at odds with most historical documents. Their reputations are Much worse, but it is a historical fiction. And a good read.

[Wullie Mcmartin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ehm it was ok...

the action is good but the dialogue is a bit naff at points. enough to make me read the second book.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally put this down about halfway through it. Can't do it anymore. This guys needs a better editor.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and captivating

a great example of Roman legion fiction, well written and captivating and relatively historically accurate

I loved it and am continuing the Series