The Lion and the Lamb

by John Henry Clay

Britain, AD366. The island is at peace, her people enjoying an age of prosperity such as they have never known. But from beyond the northern frontier into the Four Provinces come unsettling rumours: the barbarians are rising, eager to prey on the riches of the south. And they are not alone; with them conspire traitors from within Britannia herself: fellow-Romans, but men who seek only power, and power for which they are willing to watch their homeland burn.

As the shadow of war looms from beyond the Wall, Cironius Agnus Paulus, a young soldier with a secret past, becomes ensnared in a conspiracy that threatens not only him but the home he has forsaken and the family he loves. To survive he must desert the field army and embark on an odyssey to reclaim his home and his birthright, and rescue his nobility. For when the barbarians surge into the civilised heart of Britannia, when the generals fall and the politicians flee, will the lights go out? Who will have the courage to stand against them?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Roman Britain

Paperback

First published June 7, 2013

About the author

I'm a historian and novelist specialising in the end of the end of the Roman empire and the early medieval period - what we sometimes call the Dark Ages.

Aside from my academic work, I've had two novels published: THE LION AND THE LAMB and AT THE RUIN OF THE WORLD.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Should read as 4.5 Stars!**

Read this book in 2013, and this book is set in the years, AD366/367, and it shows Roman Britain magnificently in it final days and entering the Dark Ages, with marauding tribes swarming all over Britain.

There's Paul, heir to Roman Britain's wealthiest families, but after having fled his family for various reasons, is now serving with the Roman army in Britain, when all of a sudden he hears of an uprising beyond the Wall and deserts his post within the army, for which there's only one penalty, death.

With only the former slave-girl, Eachna, for company, they need to travel in all haste across Britain to get to his family in a desparate attempt to save his family, and with danger lurking everywhere, the question remains will he be in time to make his mark and save his family from the barbarians?

An kind of epic Roman Britain story about courage and determination in an effort to save ones kin, which is also action-packed with battles and with very entertaining dialogue, and in which the historical details of this period of history are brilliantly used by the author, to make this tale very believable in its entirety.

Highly recommended, for this is a great debut novel with wonderful storytelling and likeable characters in this Roman world of violence, supremacy, survival and death, and that's why I want to rate this book as: "A Most Impressive (Roman Britain) Debut Novel"!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.
It is about time that books of this kind - set in this period of history and of an epic nature - begin appearing in bookstores. Books that cover similar, are generally old or dated ones now. Published many decades ago and no longer in print. In fact, I can not think of any recent ones at all that are set in this thoroughly fascinating period of history.
There are shorter books purpose written to be the kicking off point for a series, but I can not think of anything like The Lion and The Lamb, which has been released in the last four or five years. By anything like The Lion and the Lamb, I mean epic journey fiction set in Roman Britain.
There have been similar in epic feel, like Hawk Quest by John Lyndon. Only that comes much later in British history and is set in countries outside of the UK for the most part.

I was very impressed by this debut from John Henry Clay (who most certainly has an epic name to match an epic story). It was not without its naivete and its rough edges, but I think most readers can forgive that in a debut. There are debuts that hit their marks and perfect notes. Debuts you would not guess were debuts, but they are not common. Therefore, I forgive this book for being freshly whelped. It would be unnecessarily pedantic not to.

The book was riddled with characters I liked and characters I did not. I really liked Paul and Eachna and I really disliked Amanda and Patricia. But that's going to happen in every book. Some characters appeal, some do not. Then for each reader that will be different.
If you read this book I would like to know what you think of the characters (whether I know you or we are yet to know each other, please feel free to give me your opinion).
I was very fond of Eachna. For her toughness, her vulnerability, her disability. She was the kind of well rounded and flawed character that I like and that will keep me coming back.

I do have to confess why it was that I gave this book three stars out of five. Sometimes, the names of the people, the way settings were described, I felt this book was not set in the period it was supposed to be. It had this habit of not having any sense of place or era and you could be reading a story in Roman Britain, or Medieval Britain, or even, at times, when there were scenes with no definite indicators of period, with names like Paul, Amanda, Victor, Patricia flying around, it could even have been not in history at all. But in current day.
For what it is worth, I understand that the author is educated through his profession in this period, and he would know if variations of these names are commonly attributed to this time, but I do not think these kinds of names give a good sense of era to a book like this. I think it makes it sound like an episode of Heartbeat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101114/).
This improved a lot later in the book though. I must admit.

A caveat. I will add an apology in advance to the author for such cavalier disregard of the names he chose for his characters, but hey, reader reviews are all about personal taste, not whether we are right or not.

That was my only big negative to the book. I am not mad for stories about love either, but I do not cry foul about that because the book makes no secret of its strong relationship plots. I expected it.

What more can I say? It's a great debut. It's an honest attempt at giving us, the readers of historical fiction, a real epic of this period to sink our teeth into. Its the harbinger of things to come from this new author and he will be welcomed out of the Hodder & Stoughton author stable by more readers of the genre as he develops his skills over time.
It is all those things and I recommend you give it your consideration (and then make sure you get back to me on what you thought of the characters)

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful novel! This isn't a period of Roman history I know well but John Henry Clay reveals just how fascinating it is. Great storytelling, covering so many areas of life across late Roman Britain. The author is also to be commended for the female characters. Great to see such strong and individual female figures in Roman historical fiction.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed with this book; for a debut novel, it's well written and I like that the author chose late Roman Britain as his setting: underutilized in fiction. The centerpiece event is the 'Barbarian Conspiracy' of 367 AD, which historically occurred only a few decades before the legions were pulled out of Britain for good. At that time [410 AD] Emperor Honorius told the people to look to themselves for their own defense. I recommend this page-turner highly; it was just as enthralling on rereading.

We follow Paul [Cironius Agnus Paulus], son of a wealthy Romanized British family of senatorial rank. After he kills his older brother, Faustus, as the result of a quarrel, he flees to the north. He and a farm lad, Victor, who befriends him are picked up by an army press gang and each is forced to join the army as a common soldier [known in the late Roman army as a pedes, not legionary]. Paul and Victor serve in a fort on Hadrian's Wall. We see the brutality and sadism Paul undergoes at the hands of superior officers and we feel the injustice. The young men are transferred to a fort to the north of the Wall; it is crumbling into ruin and there is no discipline. Paul escapes and heads south with an Irish slave girl, Eachna, he meets on the way. Tribune Drogo, the Frankish commander of a fort in the west, where Paul and Eachna spend a few months after Drogo has rescued them from attack, gives him a message to deliver to warn civil officials, including the governor, of the coming of the Picts and the traitor Valentinus, a rebel. Also, Paul has found the moral strength to confess the fratricide to his father and to face any punishment. A parallel storyline concerns his sister, Amanda, her sad life, and feelings for Rufus, the son of the family's rival and enemy, Agrius Leo. People in south Britannia anticipate the coming of barbarians from Hibernia up the Sabrina River and await a final military confrontation near Glevum.

I thought the main characters fully fleshed-out, although sometimes their names caught me up short: neither Latin nor indigenous. The villainous officers had no redeeming qualities; they seemed to be in the story only to make Paul's life a living Hell. Usually Christians in these books are presented as obnoxious and odious fanatics, but in this novel Paul's cousin, Deacon Julian [ironic name: the same as the pagan emperor], was an admirable person. He was supportive to both Paul and to Amanda. He helped out in an army hospital as an orderly, going beyond his religious duties.

There were one or two plot points left unresolved, e.g., the final fate of Victor's love interest, Rosa. I felt there were some plot inconsistencies. Descriptions were good, but I could not picture how Paul's family's villa was laid out nor how Drogo's isolated, windswept fort was situated from outside in the landscape. The story was plausible. I didn't feel the story conveyed the feel of late Roman Britain as well as it could have. Perhaps a judicious use of Latin terms where the author had used English equivalents, might have contributed to the Roman atmosphere. For instance, in the final stand-off, the soldiers threw lead-weighted darts. The author could have used the Latin plumbatae. As cataphracts were called 'ironclads', I pictured medieval knights on their destriers. Those familiar with Roman historical fiction know many of these terms already; for those unfamiliar with them, the author could have included a Latin/English glossary. On the first reading the title made no sense; I didn't figure out its significance until I reread the novel: the names of both the traitorous, greedy neighbor and Paul's family name.

[Speesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a period I knew very little about, ‘The Lion and The Lamb’ I found to be in the end, an excellent book, instantly engaging, really well written and a thoroughly good investment of my - and your - time and money. OK, I got it as a Christmas present, so of my friend’s money. But I digress…

It is set during what seems to be the latter days of the Roman occupation of Britain, AD363, to be exact. This is Britain in the final years before Rome finally withdrew all her soldiers. When the Roman Romans, were getting set to abandon their British project, and the British who’d become Roman, were beginning to get worried. That part doesn’t play a huge part in most of the book, but I felt it was an essential and well played undercurrent, especially as there come more and more ‘outrageous’ barbarian attacks along the coast. That the ‘barbarians’ are the enemy and invaders and are essentially the descendants of the people who were conquered by the Romans when THEY invaded, is an ironic delight.

The story follows Gaius Cironius Agnus Paulus and his family. They are from a British tribe, but are full-blooded British Romans now. After what could be called a ‘misunderstanding’, Paulus flees their home in (what is now) southern England, gets ‘press-ganged into the Army and is sent north to Hadrian’s Wall. A punishment sees him sent even further north, where amidst the corruption and treachery, he finally sees the light, as it were, and realises he needs to return home, whatever the consequences. Along the way, he meets an Irish slave girl, Eachna, herself with a somewhat disrupted family background, in its own way not too dissimilar to his and they journey south to confront barbarians, his family and the ‘rabbit in the headlights’ attitudes of the southern Romano-British society. Phew! If all that reminds you - minus the fighting of Barbarians - of some of Jane Austin’s work, then it did me too. There is, especially with Paulus’ sister and her attitude to what is and what isn’t important and how you do something feels more important than what you are doing, something of the ‘Emma’ here. And that’s a good thing, in my book. Think Jane Austin, set in Roman times. But with more balls. And not the dancing kind.

It was a change perhaps, from the Roman epics I’ve been reading of late, in that it isn’t bristling with battles - but it was a refreshing change. In looking at the attitudes, morals and lifestyles of the rich and famous Roman Britons - trying to be more Roman than the Romans sometimes - you really do get a feel for a country about to have the certainty of how their lives have been for the previous 400-odd years, removed. Not knowing, as The Clash once so eloquently put it; ’Should I Stay or Should I Go?’

If I had to pick holes, and I feel I have to, one thing that did irritate me, was the switching between the two areas of the story. One chapter with the son up north, the next with the family down south. I can see why he would do it, but by a little over half way, it’s became a little forced, mechanical and risked becoming a distraction. Fortunately, he managed to pull it back from the brink in the final third and that, packed with intrigue, tension and flow, made the book as a whole.


It reminded me in many ways (and not just because of its British setting) of Douglas Jackson’s Rome’ series. The first in the series, as that is set in Britain, anyway. The same instant engagement and ease of story telling. If you’ve been reading any of the first three in Anthony Riches’ ‘Empire’ series (as they too are set in northern Britain, but some 180-odd years earlier), this could well be seen as the antidote. A really pleasant break from the full-on, hard living, hard drinking, (and in Anthony Riches’ stories) hard-swearing, epics I’ve read a lot of just lately. I still love them, but I think I can appreciate this all the more for having come away from them, and will appreciate them all the more when I come back from this. If you follow?

It’s also well worth staying on for the Afterword and Historical stuff. Very interesting to see how delicately he’s woven his tale in and out of the available facts.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable first novel! So well-researched and the setting so well-depicted that I almost imagined I had time-traveled to Roman Britain. The characters the author selected rang true as did the politics of the time. I enjoy historical novels set in the Middle Ages and this one is right up there with such greats as "Eagle In The Snow," "The Adventurer ," "The Long Ships," and "Agincourt."

Little is actually known about 4th century Roman Britain. But, the tale the author imagines rings true to me.

[Luna Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read but! I felt some parts were rushed and others were dragged out so sometimes the pace felt a little off for me. However, I loved the characters, felt connected to them and enjoyed the plot. I couldn’t put the book down at points hence the 4 stars, and if the pace was right then it would definitely have been a 5!

[Peter James · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it took me a chapter or two to get into it I loved it. Great story. Great writing. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is set in 4th century Britain, with the province under attack from barbarian tribes and the Roman army in a state of confusion. It tells the story of Paul, a noble young Roman, who flees home after a family quarrel and is press ganged into service as a foot soldier. Meanwhile his sister Amanda struggles with growing up in the stultifying atmosphere of a noble household, and escaped slave Eachna tries to make her way to safety and freedom.

This was an absorbing and memorable novel which kept my interest throughout. The detailed research into army life, the references to the conventions of noble society and the portrayal of religious conflicts of the time bring the setting to life. The battle scenes are exciting and contrast well with the scenes of life in Corinium or the villas. The characters are well developed and human in their faults, especially Amanda. I felt Eachna slipped into the background in the later part of the novel and became quite passive, which didn't really fit with her earlier strength and determination. However, I did like the way Clay brings out the deviousness of the political classes and the hypocrisy of the church hierarchy through the actions of the minor characters.

I hadn't previously read any historical fiction set in Roman times and this has been a great introduction which has inspired me to read more books set in this era. I am also looking forward to more books from this author.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Britain in the fourth century AD, The Lion and The Lamb is the story of Paul, a young man from a wealthy and respected Romano-British family who runs away from home after killing his brother in a quarrel, joins the army as a lowly foot soldier, falls in love with a crippled Irish slave who redeems him, and returns to his family just in time to save his community from the Great Barbarian conspiracy in which an alliance of barbarian tribes simultaneously invade Roman Britain.

There is a good deal of socio-political background in this book and it feels very authentic. That is as you might expect from an author who is a lecturer in medieval history at Durham University and has been hailed as a latter-day Rosemary Sutcliff, albeit one clearly writing for adults.

It's always good to have a sense of the bigger picture in historical fiction and it was certainly interesting to see how the mechanics of civil, military and religious administration worked in the latter days of the empire. Unfortunately, what the novel gains in historical accuracy it loses in narrative technique. I found the characters a bit wooden and the plot terribly slow. I struggled to get to the end.

[Charlotte K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a richly coloured Roman Britain in the mid fourth century, this novel is a wonderful depiction of this place and time and is written in gorgeous prose. The Lion and the Lamb interweaves the storylines of four main characters: Paul, the heir to a prestigious family, who is drafted into the army - and chooses to remain their rather than face his family; his sister, Amanda, a very traditional aristocratic girl; and Eachna, a slave girl with a fierce heart and strong mind.

The backdrop was the Barbarian rebellion, but really this takes second place to the trials and evolution of the characters.

A fun read, as well as an interesting depiction of a Roman Britain all but deserted by Rome, where those that are left – either thoroughly Romanized or still true to their own culture – must fight to make their own way.

[Aversa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chewed through it in one night. Great characterization, excellent authorial voice, compelling plot with great twists which somehow had all the best bits of historical fiction and none of the worst. I usually stay away from historical fiction as reading it usually ends with me rending my hair and shouting "but that's *anachronistic*," but of course John avoids all of those pitfalls except for the use of Old English, and if Helen Foxhall Forbes thinks it's alright, how could I possibly disagree?

Worth a read if you like the Romans; worth a read if you like the Britons; worth a read if you like historical fiction; worth a read if you, like me, don't. Above all, worth keeping on the shelf for a re-read, which I think I'll start tomorrow, just for fun...

[Margareth8537 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The break down of Roman Britain.
Particularly enjoyed this because most of it takes place in th North of England, on the Wall, Carlisle, Hardknott, Ravenglass.
Written from the viewpoint of Britons, who are Romanicized, but despised by the Empire.

[Tegels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas. Sometimes the characterisation is a bit basic.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depicts the era well. However not all that interesting

[Josh Burcham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A entertaining attempt to reveal the layers and complexity of 4th century Roman Britannia society.

[Linda Humberstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book with a good story line. It goes back and forth between the characters in one family and how fate has, and does, deal with them within the story's context. The gradual breaking down of the Roman occupation in Britain forces the population of Cirencester to take their fates in their own hands by once again fighting for their homes and families as they cannot rely on the Roman military coming to their aid in time.