Ο μισθοφόρος

by Steven Pressfield, Αντώνης Καλοκύρης (Translator)

Ιερουσαλήμ και έρημος του Σινά, 1ος αι. μ.Χ.

Στον ταραγμένο απόηχο της σταύρωσης του Ιησού, αξιωματούχοι της Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας πληροφορούνται για έναν προσκυνητή που μεταφέρει την εμπρηστική επιστολή ενός θρησκευόμενου φανατικού σε στασιαστές στην Κόρινθο. Το περιεχόμενό της μπορεί να καταστρέψει το ρωμαϊκό οικοδόμημα. Οι Ρωμαίοι προσλαμβάνουν έναν πρώην λεγεωνάριο, τον μοναχικό πολεμιστή Τελαμώνα από την Αρκαδία, για να συλλάβει τον προσκυνητή προτού παραδώσει την επιστολή. Ο Τελαμώνας ακολουθεί έναν σκοτεινό προσωπικό κώδικα, όπου δεν υπάρχει χώρος για ευγενείς σκοπούς και ιδανικά. Θα συλλάβει, λοιπόν, τον κομιστή της επιστολής. Και τότε θα συμβεί κάτι που ούτε εκείνος ούτε η αυτοκρατορία θα μπορούσαν να έχουν προβλέψει...

Ο Στίβεν Πρέσσφιλντ υπογράφει τη συγκλονιστική ιστορία ενός απρόθυμου ήρωα σε μια Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία που δοκιμάζεται κατά τα πρώτα χρόνια μιας νέας θρησκείας που θα αλλάξει τον κόσμο.

«Ο Στίβεν Πρέσσφιλντ ζωντανεύει την απεριόριστη αφοσίωση του πολεμιστή και την απόλυτη δέσμευσή του στην υπηρεσία του σκοπού του. Με δυναμική και αφυπνιστική αφήγηση, ο Μισθοφόρος θα παραμείνει στο μυαλό σας για πολύ καιρό».
Jim Mattis, στρατηγός εν αποστρατεία, Σώμα Πεζοναυτών ΗΠΑ και πρ. υπουργός Άμυνας

«Ένας σπουδαίος πολεμιστής έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με το μοναδικό πράγμα που θα μπορούσε να τον αλλάξει: ένα κοριτσάκι, με καρδιά γεμάτη ελπίδα και ανθρωπιά. Το καλύτερο βιβλίο του Πρέσσφιλντ».
Jim Gant, συγγραφέας του One tribe at a time

«Απίστευτο βιβλίο. Ο Πρέσσφιλντ έκανε πάλι το θαύμα του».
Ryan Holiday

«Το βιβλίο αυτό διερευνά το ήθος του μαχητή μέσα από τα μάτια και την καρδιά ενός μισθοφόρου, το επάγγελμα του οποίου δοκιμάζεται σε ένα ταξίδι που του αλλάζει τη ζωή. Είναι ένα αριστούργημα!»
Jack Carr, συγγραφέας του Savage Son

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Historical, War, Military Fiction, Adventure

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother.

I graduated from Duke University in 1965.

In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. "No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again."

Forty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined.

GATES OF FIRE is one reason. Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first days of the invasions. E-mails come in by hundreds. GATES OF FIRE is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. TIDES OF WAR is on the curriculum of the Naval War College.

From 2nd Battalion/6th Marines, which calls itself "the Spartans," to ODA 316 of the Special Forces, whose forearms are tattooed with the lambda of Lakedaemon, today's young warriors find a bond to their ancient precursors in the historical narratives of these novels.

My struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in my 2002 book, THE WAR OF ART.

I have worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. I have picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.

With the publication of THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 1995, I became a writer of books once and for all.

My writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code — internal rather than external — in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I have labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in THE WAR OF ART) and the technique for combatting these foes can be described as "turning pro."

I believe in previous lives.

I believe in the Muse.

I believe that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration, whom we call artists. My conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.

There's a recurring character in my books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like my conception of art and the artist:

"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."

Reviews

[Curtis Edmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting facets of religious belief is that religious belief has answers for everything. The Bible is full of what’s called “wisdom literature,” with advice on how to solve everything short of how to fix holes in drywall. In Orthodox Judaism, this is supplemented with incredibly detailed rabbinical teachings. Deuteronomy 6:9 commands that the words of the Shema prayer be written on the doorposts of your house, which is easy enough, until you realize that there’s a dispute as to whether the words on the scroll should be horizontal or vertical, and that because of that, you have to put them diagonally.

Stoicism is a philosophy, not a religion. (Here’s how you can tell; Stoicism doesn’t have holidays.) Stoicism is behaviorist; its teachings are focused on ethics and virtue. The true stoic isn’t (as the modern usage has it) someone who is indifferent to emotion; it is someone who lives their lives consistent with their own ethical code.

I don’t know if Steven Pressfield identifies as a Stoic or not, but his signature philosophy is something of an uneasy marriage between Stoic ideas and Manichean cosmology. The Manicheans, like George Lucas, believe in a dark side in constant conflict with goodness and light. Pressfield’s philosophy, expressed succinctly, is that there is a creative spark of light in all of us, and an invisible dark force, called Resistance, that is trying to blot that spark out. The job of the creative mind is to create, and not to surrender to the siren call of Resistance, however that manifests (usually as negative self-talk).

The appeal of the Pressfield Way, for lack of a better term, is threefold. First, it’s uncomplicated. It doesn’t take a very sophisticated viewpoint to understand that applying butt to chair is work, and checking your email and Twitter and sneaking into the kitchen for a snack is not-work, and is therefore the work of Resistance. Second, it’s task-oriented, a philosophy that is supremely helpful if you have a job to do that needs doing and you need to eliminate distractions in order to do it. Third, it tallies with lived experience. Everyone deals with obstacles and procrastination every day; the Pressfield Way is dead useful as a mental model for addressing these conflicts. (I just this minute brought up the George R.R. Martin website, and he’s busy watching movies and reading Hemingway and, as far as we know, not writing, so that tells you something right there.)

There are, however, three main limitations with using the Pressfield Way in practice. First, it can’t always tell you what kind of work to do. This is especially difficult if, like me, you have creative projects pointing at different directions every day. Down in the basement, I have furniture that needs to be refinished, and an art project that I need to finish, and the kids got a keyboard from Santa Claus and I want to learn how to play that at some point. I have this book review to finish, and a hundred others I’ve written that I want to cross-post to my website. I have to rework the website for my (struggling) publishing company, and I have a web project about baseball and one about music that I want to complete. I have a good idea for my sixth law review article. My fourth novel is about halfway complete, and then I have two non-fiction projects (one about politics and one about history) that I want to pursue. And I have a day job on top of that. I not only have your ordinary garden-variety everyday Resistance to deal with, I have an inner voice telling me that I need to work on the other things that keeps me from completing the thing I am doing.

Second, the Pressfield Way can’t tell you if the work you are doing is crap or not. The most common self-talk you get from Resistance is what you are doing sucks and you are wasting your time with it. Pressfield teaches us that Resistance is always lying and always full of crap. Which is true enough as far as it goes, but every lie has a kernel of truth in it. Maybe what I am doing really does suck. How do I know? How can I tell? (This is where your editor and your beta readers come in.)

The third limitation in the Pressfield Way is love.

A MAN AT ARMS is about this limitation, about the intersection of fighting Resistance with finding love. Its hero is Telamon, a Greek warrior in the Roman legions now working as a mercenary. Pressfield portrays him as an exemplary Stoic, someone who acts according to his own code, impervious to any other concerns other than the welfare of his mules. Telamon accepts a commission from a Roman officer to track down a fugitive Christian who is carrying Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. The Romans want to suppress the apostle’s message, and Telamon wants to be paid.

The problem is that there’s a little girl involved.

As a story, A MAN AT ARMS Is lacking in a lot of ways. Telamon seems scarcely human, and seems an unlikely object of childish devotion. The narration is chock-full of little deviations, some helpful, others with the consistency and appeal of cold oatmeal. The action scenes are taut and cinematic, though, and the villains are suitably villainous. But the attraction is in the clash of philosophies more than anything else, and in this area if no other, A MAN AT ARMS is instructive, and worthwhile.

The message of the Pressfield Way in terms of the twenty-first century would-be novelist, typing merrily away on his wireless keyboard, listening to 80’s rock through his Bose speakers, is forthright. Spouses and children are tools of Resistance. You spend all your time hanging out with other people, whoever they are (which you can’t of course always do in this year of grace 2021), and you are not going to get as much work done, and that is a fact. But you have to talk to your wife, you can’t (sigh) let your kids play with their screens all day, you have to do your other job, and what do you do with that? Pressfield, in his other books, says that you fight Resistance, you become a professional, you follow the path of the warrior.

In A MAN AT ARMS, he comes to a very different conclusion, and the correct one. Pressfield paints an idealized man of infinite Stoic virtue and accomplished prowess, the exemplar in many ways of his own personal philosophy, and it all comes to tatters in the face of love.

[George P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

“In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, officers of the Roman Empire acquire intelligence of a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic to insurrectionists in Corinth. The contents of this letter could bring down the empire.”

So reads the dust jacket of Stephen Pressfield’s new novel, A Man at Arms. The book tells the story of Telamon of Arcadia, the titular “man of arms,” who is a former Roman legionary, now mercenary. He is hired by the commander of the Tenth Legion to track down the pilgrim and retrieve the letter. The pilgrim is Michael the Nazarene (i.e., a Christian), and the letter is the apostle Paul’s first to the Corinthians.

I am a Christian minister, and this setup piqued my interest. Unfortunately, the book didn’t sustain my interest throughout. My two rules for fiction of this type are that (1) the story is a page-turner, and (2) it doesn’t tax my willing suspension of disbelief. A Man at Arms failed on both counts.

First, the book wasn’t a page-turner. Books that I enjoy compel me to keep reading them because I’m so interested in what is happening. That wasn’t true here. A book this length would normally take me several hours to read over the course of one or two sittings. I found myself picking up and putting aside A Man at Arms every few chapters, which meant it took me several days to read. I read it less out of joy and more out of duty.

Second, A Man at Arms taxed my willing suspension of disbelief. My favorite types of fiction are murder and suspense novels, especially ones in a series, like Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels or Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon stories. I also enjoy historical fiction, though—such as Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels.

Pressfield is considered a master of the historical fiction genre, based on his previous novels, Gates of Fire (about the Spartans at Thermopylae) and Tides of War (about Alcibiades). One can see his historical orientation in his descriptions of Roman weaponry, martial training, and battle tactics. He clearly has done his research on those topics, as well as a few other that figure into the story.

But the basic premise of the story seems ahistorical to me. It is set in the mid 50s AD, and assumes that Christianity is both distinct from and at odds with Judaism on the one hand, as well as suspected of treason by the Romans on the other. Neither assumption is correct on my reading of early Christian history (e.g., as seen in the Acts of the Apostles).

Some Jews in some places opposed some Christians, but not all everywhere. Similarly, Luke goes out of his way to show that the early Christians were on good terms with the Roman government. Most importantly, in A.D. 51–52, Gallio served as Roman proconsul in Achaia and acquitted Paul himself during a trial … in Corinth (Acts 18)! It seems unlikely that just four years later, a letter to the still-young church in the same city would’ve elicited a far more negative response.

Moreover, why would Paul — writing to Corinth from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8) — send his letter via Jerusalem (to the south) rather than more directly to Corinth (to the west)? Socially, politically, and geographically, the book’s setup seems wrong.

Some other turnoffs in the book include its occasional didacticism and its stilted vocabulary. Fiction should tell, not show, but at times—especially, early in the novel — Pressfield lectures rather than narrates. At times, his word choice and syntax also struck me as odd. Perhaps it was an effort to lend the book a classical feel, but to me, it was offputting.

And then there was the issue of motivation: Given that Telamon’s religious and moral convictions were more Stoic than Christian, though he admired Michael the Nazarene’s courage in the face of adversity, it never became entirely clear to me why Telamon ended up making the choices he made. Nor why others in the story followed him so dearly.

On one thing, however, Pressfield is absolutely right. The kind of religion revealed in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians really was anti-imperial. The Christians knew this early on, given that they worshiped Jesus as Lord, rather than Caesar. But in the mid-50s, whether in Judea or other provinces of the empire, Rome did not yet know this.

So, a three-star “Meh” from me for A Man at Arms. It has its moments, but even in the realm of historical fiction, it just didn’t work for me.

Book Reviewed
Stephen Pressfield, A Man at Arms (New York: Norton, 2021).

P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite Pressfield's classic page-turner, this is a very different undertaking to his other books. It still contains the philosophy and the classical vocabulary as well as the poignant nature that Pressfield includes each time he writes, but I feel it lacks the depth of characters as well as the built-up climaxes that pay off so well.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something a bit different, but fascinating. Set in the 1st century AD, the novel details how Telamon of Arcadia, a hard-bitten, stoical veteran of the X Legion [tattoo of which he bears] turned mercenary, first is given the task of intercepting a letter written to the Christians at Corinth and its messenger. In his encounter with the mute child Ruth, he bonds with her, his thinking changes, and he helps deliver the letter to its destination. On the way are many obstacles, for example, ambushes and skirmishes of Romans and Nabateans attempting to stop him and his companions. I loved the description of the Sinai; I felt it was similar to the U.S. Southwest. The author may not have given completely exact descriptions of the landscape, but it was vivid and easy to visualize. Wasteland and desert, yes, but tumbleweeds in that vicinity?
I was misty-eyed at the last few chapters: such a powerful finish! I wondered at the use of old-fashioned [maybe 19th century or even earlier?] language. Was it possibly in keeping with the words of the letter?

Very highly recommended. I've read most of Pressfield and I deem this novel my favorite.

[Connor Pritchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Pressfield. It's amazing. No one blends savage and beautiful better. An ex-Roman soldier (turned mercenary) protects a young girl (with a powerful secret) against his former employers. It's feels like a New Testament action movie with the added bonus prize of profound depth and wisdom.

Not sold yet? There's a sorceress, revenge crucifixions, cool Roman tattoos, insect covered prophets, hidden desert cities, barbarian tribes, Arab horse soldiers, road bandits, lots of blood-covered arrows and severed limbs, an escape down the Nile, and an epic climax on an entirely different continent.

I would put Man at Arms an arrow notch below Gates of Fire as my close second favorite.

The action-packed ending makes it a must read, but there's something special about this one. Entire passages and intense visuals kept resurfacing in my brain weeks after reading. When Steve Pressfield unpacks The Bible, some kind of mystical alchemy unfolds in your brain and the story of Telamon stays with you.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steven Pressfield’s best work of fiction since “Gates of Fire”. A Man At Arms might well prove to be his best-selling work yet.

I took a few weeks to process this book before reviewing.

Before reviewing “A Man At Arms”, I think it is important to admit that I am a huge Pressfield fan. I have consumed, either read or listened, to almost every book Steven Pressfield has written. I’ve recommended both his fiction and non-fiction as frequently, and War of Art has become my most gifted book in the past decade.

I read his blog, and generally listen to any podcast on which he’s interviewed. Steven has the uncanny ability to get his messages across in both fiction and non-fiction. That is exceedingly rare. So, to say I’m a Steven Pressfield fan is an understatement. This is not an unbiased review.

Steve’s primary theme in both fiction and non-fiction is the internal war within, and how a warrior ethos (one of his books) can be utilized to become our best selves. This theme is hammered home in “A Man At Arms” thoroughly, convincingly, and enjoyably.

Many of Pressfield’s works I continue to re-read and re-listen. Gates of Fire, War of Art, Turning Pro, and Legend of Bagger Vance (I don’t really know why I love this book so much, but it touches me every single time) are on a semi-annual repeat cycle for me. Since the iPod, I have become more of a listener, and so I speed up the narration to 1.5-2.0, and revisit the lessons Steve offers explicitly (non-fiction) and implicitly (fiction).

A Man At Arms has leaped into the re-read stack already. As of writing this review, I have started to read it again.

Previous reviews above cover the basic narrative better than I can do justice. I will echo a couple of reviewers’ comments that I continually used my Dictionary app to learn some odd, and maybe archaic terms. This was not a distraction however, it was enjoyable. Sam Harris does to me in at least half of his podcasts…

Instead of reviewing the over-arching story, I want to describe what reading this made me feel and think, while reading, and since finishing. The true magic of great historic fiction is to bring history to life intimately. Ken Follett is another champ at this in his terrific series (KingsBridge & Century), but Steven Pressfield brings to life the Middle East in 55 A.D in a way that left marks in my soul.

His example of how important, and how well built the ‘Roman Roads’ completely changed my understanding of ‘every road leads to Rome’. They were essentially Auto(cart/carriage/chariot)Bahns. I had no idea. So crystal clear.

His description of the Roman Legions, the Roman infrastructure, and bureaucracy puts an entire new understanding of what the early Christians were up against. David had much better odds against Goliath.

The religious differences among the Jewish people was also enlightening, as with how stubborn the Jewish people were to protect their own culture and beliefs. Stubborn, in this context, is the highest praise.

The violence, torture, and physicality of this age adds ballast to Pinker’s ‘Better Angles’ argument in vivid color. There were passages in which I was physically wincing in my chair or bed—and I’d quickly scan ahead to see when it would stop because it was making me deeply uncomfortable.

The power in this narrative is gripping, and I tore through the book in just a few days. Like almost all good books I’ve read, I couldn’t put it down—and was nearly distraught when it was over. I wanted the story to go on and on.

A few comments about what I got out of it.
1. We need mentors. The young boy who attaches himself to Telamon reminded me of my own hero-worship. (Ok...I have a bit of hero-worship myself for this author, and I’m 40+ years older than David.) Leadership, modeling (which is how Telamon taught-implicitly for most of the novel, then explicitly when the youth made it clear he wasn’t going to quit), and mentoring is how our species learns. I’d trade a summer with Telamon over my decades of formal education in a New York Minute.

2. Even leaders/warriors need mentoring. Telamon changes in this book. I haven’t quite figured out (will take a few readings before I think I truly understand) what makes Telamon—this Terminator caricature of a warrior—change his values from ‘gun for hire’ to protector of the innocent/vulnerable. My first thought is Telamon sees something in this young, awkward Ruth that shifts something deep inside him. I think he sees, maybe, what he thought he had spent most of his life fighting for, but never witnessing in person. He sees resilience, grit, determination, strength, honor, and courage wrapped in the most unlikely of packages. A mute pre-teen girl with a bedraggled, torture-surviving adult man who demonstrate more internal strength than he has shown physically in his entire life. This experience changes him, and he recognizes that he must do everything within his power to pick up their fight against, truly, the entire world and impossible odds. He pays dearly for this decision as well.

Lastly as the book reached its climax, I wept. It caught me completely by surprise, both the emotion that it evoked, and the story itself. I can probably point to the exact word when the tears ran, but that would steal this beauty from the reader. Just know that it hit me like a bolt of lightning. Immediately.

In closing, A Man At Arms is why we read books. This is a must read for any fan of historical fiction.
bsn

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mercenary helps deliver Paul's 1st Epistle to the Corinthians
Review of the Recorded Books Inc. audiobook edition, released simultaneously with the W. W. Norton hardcover (March 2, 2021)


Image of a 1st century AD Roman soldier, image sourced from The Evolution of the Ancient Roman Soldier.

Despite a considerable amount of historical detail about the Roman Empire and its occupation of Judea in the late BC and early AD years in the early parts of this historical fiction, the rest of the plot became a rather tiresome repetition of travels, captures, tortures, and escapes. The fiction finds us in Jerusalem with the Roman garrison seeking to put a stop to the delivery of Paul the Apostle's First Letter to the Corinthians which they believe threatens the integrity of the Roman Empire.

A former legionary of the Legio X (Tenth Legion), now a mercenary, is hired to hunt down the supposed courier. In the first of several about faces, betrayals and twists, the mercenary instead proceeds to guard the courier Michael and his companion "the Girl" (later named Ruth) in their mission, along with a young Jewish boy David who seeks to be his apprentice. They are bedeviled by a Jewish sorceress who inexplicably is sometimes for them and sometimes against them. They are chased by the forces of the Jerusalem commander Severus and various bandit forces who periodically capture them and let them escape constantly.

Paul the Apostle and his scribe make a distant cameo appearance but there is very little learned about him and the early Christian communities. The actual Corinthians don't even give the struggling party a very warm welcome at the end. A recitation of 1st Corinthians Chapter 13 Verses 11-13 wraps it all up very enigmatically.

11. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12. For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known.

13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

I listened to the A Man at Arms audiobook through the Audible Daily Deal offer for $3.95 on June 27, 2021.

Trivia and Links
The 1st letter to the Corinthians hardly seems like much of a threat to the Roman Empire. It is mostly about trying to heal rifts in the early Christian community. You can read a summary of it on Wikipedia.

Paul the Apostle né Saul of Tarsus (c 5 AD to c 64/67 AD) likely wrote the 1st letter to the Corinthians in Ephesus on the west coast of present day Turkey, a several days sea voyage over to Corinth in Greece. What the letter is doing much further south in the hands of land travellers in Jerusalem seems to be a necessary fiction in order to involve lengthier and more perilous land travel among hostile forces.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our Man at Arms never really became ours. He remained a closed book and so I could not understand or empathise with the 'whys' of his decisions and actions.



An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.

[Michael McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this six stars.

The ending literally took my breath away and moved me to tears (I will omit saying anything specific that could be a spoiler). It is, however, both surprising and inevitable in the manner of the greatest works, and left me stunned in the afterglow of its power and beauty.

The phenomenal premise gripped me from the beginning. From the back cover:

"Jerusalem and the Sinai desert, AD 55. In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, agents of the Roman Empire receive information about a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic calling himself Paul the Apostle to insurrectionists in Corinth. What's in the letter could bring down an empire.

"The Romans hire a former legionary, a solitary man-at-arms named Telamon to intercept the letter and destroy the courier. Telamon fights for money, not principles. He's been promised a rich reward; should he fail, the punishment is death by crucifixion. But once he meets the courier, Telamon experiences an extraordinary conversion, and instead of carrying out the mission, takes on an Empire. In his first novel of the ancient world in thirteen years, the best-selling author of Gates of Fire and Tides of War returns with a gripping saga of conquest and rebellion, bloodshed and faith."

And Pressfield delivers. My strong suspicion is that this book will endure among the greatest of his greatest books, including the ones that have sold a million copies.

This one feels like it arrived on a straight pipeline from the Muse. A Man at Arms is undoubtedly a great work of art, but perhaps even more than that, it puts a timeless message straight into the heart of the reader. And that message may be what we all need to hear as the antidote to this precise moment in time.

Bravo, and I hope this book moves you as much as it moved me.

[Keith Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Arms and a man, I sing’
‘Charity never faileth.’ The words of St Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians; in this novel, Pressfield’s first in twelve years, charity fails again and again. Set in Roman Palestine during the reign of Nero, the plot revolves around a mercenary soldier and his attempts to convey the famous Letter of Paul from Jerusalem to the Church in Corinth. The ‘man at arms’ is the consummate warrior skilled in every type of martial skill. A former legionary, turned cynical soldier of fortune, he is first employed by the Roman authorities to track down and intercept the letter and its carrier, but then changes sides, working to get the letter to its planned recipients.

This is a brutal and violent story, the Roman soldiers and their allies more akin to Mel Gibson’s legionaries in ‘The Passion of the Christ’ than other recent fiction. The narrative is filled with cruel, sickening torture, crucifixion scenes, cynical betrayals and genocide. Yet the literary style is odd. The tale reads as though it were a Nineteenth Century translation of an ancient text, Josephus say, or other Hellenised writer of the time. I expected a reveal of the supposed origin of the text to appear at the end, but this did not happen, leaving me to wonder somewhat why the author chose this particular style and conceit.

The plot is almost entirely implausible, is filled with magic and lacks much historical accuracy. Yet the setting is a recognisable Palestine of the Roman era, and the story replete with non-stop action carries the reader headlong despite many misgivings. The hero initially appears to be a Roman era Outlaw Josie Wales, a sort of superman gathering a posse of vulnerable followers, but the miracle at the close of the book, while clever, seems greatly at odds with the plot up to that point, a literal ‘Deus ex machina’ in fact. Recommended, but with considerable reservations.

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Man at Arms was good but not great, well maybe not even good but okay. After reading Pressfield's terrific Gates of Fire, I was somewhat disappointed in this effort. The premise is excellent, but the execution is lacking. Most of the book reads like an action/adventure story, i.e. Indiana Jones in the first century. I give it three stars for effort and for the research necessary to portray this historical period, but as a novel it is no better than two stars.

[Milan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Godine 55. naše ere, Judejski patrijarhat, nevoljan da podvije vrat pod Rimom, činio je i dalje prkosnu silu, osnaženu sećanjima na makavejsku i hasmonejsku dinastiju. Za razliku od Sirijaca koji su sa Rimljanima sarađivali, trgovali, stapali se, Jevreji su se bunili i opirali potpirivani religioznim učenjima. Kao posledica preuređenja - razvoja Rimske infrastrukture a sa tim i pošte u pokorenim zemljama, stvoreni su uslovi za brže širenje apokrifnih spisa i poruka, što je, više nego bilo koja pobunjenička vojska, predstavljalo pretnju Rimskom carstvu.

Junak romana, bivši i prekaljeni oficir desete Rimske legije (Fretensis), naslednice iste one Cezarove legije formirane radi opsedanja Galije, unajmljen je da presretne kurira koji nosi jedno od apostolovih pisama upućeno Korinćanima, što njegovu družinu šalje na pogibeljan put preko Sinajske pustinje do Grčke. Vojnički kod protagoniste, koji se može svesti na „borbu borbe radi“, služi kao osnova za obrte i stvaranje triler-dinamike priče.

Uprkos uvek-zanimljivim ali nedovoljno obrađenim istorijskim detaljima, koji ovoga puta padaju u zasenak brojnih nedostataka, roman je teško shvatiti ozbiljno i nezamislivo smatrati ga kvalitetnim: dijalozi - jednim delom kao prepisani iz holivudskih filmskih scenarija, a drugim svedeni na petparačku, filozofsko-teološku raspravu; opisi okršaja - toliko nerealistični, da guše svaku, čak i okvirnu istorijsku doslednost; suv i neubedljiv narativni stil; antiklimaktična završnica.

Naum je, nažalost, i po svemu sudeći, ipak bio pisanje bestselera a ne štiva vrednog čitanja.

Preskočiti.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointed in the story, which seemed contrived to convey the history and technology of the period. The characters moved from event to event. Sometimes it was a total mystery why they would take a particular course of action. The ending was uneventful in my opinion. Not a book I'd recommend.

[Devin Thorpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I majored in Religion & Philosophy before going to Law School, but that doesn't mean what you probably think it does. The program I studied at was not for the faint of heart. It was much more about critical thinking and challenging worldview than the indoctrination you see at a lot of biblical schools. One of my courses was literally called "Critics of Christianity," where we did nothing but read books written by world-renowned atheists and were forced to have professor-moderated debates for the entire duration of class. I took a year of Koine Greek and a year of Hebrew. I read the Septuagint in its original language as well as Torah. In addition to this, I studied the Hellenistic Period extensively until its fall at the hands of the Roman Empire.

With all that said, I see a lot of reviews on this book criticizing Pressfield's knowledge on this subject matter. But with all of that put to the side, this book is a masterclass in character development. I mean, this is a story about a man who believes in nothing still managing to listen to his own moral compass—even if that means losing his life in the process.

Telamon of Arcadia is an ex-Roman legionary who spent 22 years fighting for Rome. Nowadays, however, he seemingly floats from one mercenary job to the next. Throughout most of the story, his life, quite frankly, seems without purpose. He has no loved ones. He fights and kills for money. He believes in nothing and has very little to live for—yet he persists nonetheless.

All of that changes though when he is hired to hunt down a man who carries a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the city of Corinth. I won't spoil anything, but it is this journey that transforms Telamon into something much greater than the man he was when we first encounter him. And the thing I love most about this story is—Telamon of Arcadia is not a Christian, and he doesn't accept Christianity's worldview. But nevertheless, Telamon sees the fear Christianity strikes into the heart of Rome, and that alone is enough of a reason for him to betray his mission.

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is its extensive fact dumping. There were several times throughout the plot where Pressfield would, out of nowhere, go on a tangent describing the geographical region, its cultural implications, and the historical context. I would have been fine with this if it served a larger purpose that propelled the story, but oftentimes it felt like useless information that never needed to be written in order to understand what was happening. To me, it kind of felt like Pressfield did extensive amounts of research before writing this book and didn't want all that research to end up being wasted, so he just dumped sporadically on the page ever dozen chapters or so. I admire the lengths he went to so he could understand the subject matter, but I think the story would've been better off without these sections.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pressfield has written one helluva classic Western here - he just set it 18 centuries earlier, where instead of an ex-gunfighter being pursued by outlaws, Indians, and renegade soldiers, we have an ex-centurion on the run from various Arab bandits, Roman troops and Jewish zealots; and the book is all the better for its "rip-off" structure.

In typical Old West fashion, we have a surly and silent loner who reluctantly undertakes an assignment to bring back a feared enemy of the state, only to…well, spoilers. But along the way - and across the very Old West-y deserts of Israel and Sinai - he teams up (reluctantly, of course) with a young acolyte and mysterious silent girl, and runs across a roster of other colorful, memorable characters.

That said, the last section (once everyone leaves the desert and returns to what passes as civilization) seems just a bit rushed, and so drops this otherwise excellent book down half a star (but which I’m still rounding back up).

Pressfield's last book set in ancient times was 2006's equally strong The Afghan Campaign, since when he has written the very good Killing Rommel (set during WWII) as well as two books set in the 2030's (the less successful The Profession and 36 Righteous Men); so Man at Arms was a welcome return to his established wheelhouse. (Pressfield is also well known for his books on writing itself, including [but not limited to] The War of Art and Do the Work. Indeed, his books on writing have far more GR ratings and reviews than any of his fiction...which is great, but just shows that his historical masterpieces - which also include Tides of War, and Gates of Fire - deserve a far larger readership.)

Great book for the most part, and recommended for all readers of both historical epics and classic Westerns.

[Nikola Pavlovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikako najbolji Presfild ali isto tako, za njegove standarde, ne i slabo kao Poslednja Amazonka. U sustini jedna zanimljiva knjiga sa veoma primamljivom temom. Egzekucija je na momente odlicna a opet sa druge strane dosta toga je ostalo sturo. Vidi se da je uradio svoj domaci sto se tice pustinje, zivota u njoj kao i nacina na koji se nekada zivelo. To su ujedno za mene i najbolji delovi ovog romana.

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pressfield does it again. He is maybe the best historical novelist alive.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll listen to anything narrated by George Guidall, but this was pretty tough. A series of implausibilities leading to literal cliffhangers.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the glowing blurbs by General Mattis and General Patreus I'm appalled by how terrible this book is. The author trusts you to believe him more than he writes a believable story. Our hero Telamon is a great warrior because we're told her a great warrior. The early fight sequences build up an impossible scenario, yet suddenly our friends are free from the danger because Telamon heroed his way out of it. A believable description isn't even attempted. When we get glimpses of his brilliant tactics it's something like him shedding gear while they run from their enemies. He explains that it's loot which will slow the pursuit. Telamon's stoicism is very much a trope and inconsistent with his choices. Other characters are worse. I have it two stars instead of one because I like the David and Ruth characters. But there's a "sorceress". She's all over the place with swings that include betraying everyone and leading to them to their probable death (and for one, actual death) and then finding them again and sacrificing her life for them. Oh the sacrifices serves no purpose. She just runs at the Romans and dies. There is a man made of bees. Timothy. He is one of several groups that actually succeeds in capturing our friends but... Plot twist! He's a friend. Yeah, they're captured by ultimately friendly groups three times! While the bumbling Romans only accomplish it once. And when they do they blunder again. They execute Telamon. Kinda. But they can't find the kids. So, they leave after three days of trying to smoke out the kids with brush fires. Five minutes (Literally. They count to 100 3 times) after they leave, the kids run to Telamon cut down his crucified body, which has had a bag of scorpions tied over his head and been nibbled at by wolves. Then the kids light a fire to revive him or something. David even protestss saying that the smoke will draw the Romans back. But they do. And it doesn't. And then a couple pages later we're supposed to believe that they're being hounded by patrols again. It all culminates with them killing the Roman leaders in front of grateful Corinthian Christians then running away with those Christians. Then they try to give the Christians the letter which is the point of this whole mission they're on and the Christians decide to beat them with sticks and beg for their execution while saying the killings of the Romans was just poor theater. It's ridiculous. Anything this author can do to create drama he does. He does not trust the reader to apply common sense or think "what would an actual person do?"

This book is garbage and I'm not kidding when I say that I value the opinions of Mattis and Patreus less now that I've read it.

[Glen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am stunned that I managed to complete this 300+ page apology for cruelty and exultation of violence. On top of it all the author attempts to conflate the Christian message of forgiveness and love with the (not credible) behavior of the "Man at Arms" in dogged brutal assistance to the early Christian movement. In this adulation of physical might as right the author goes out of his way to include graphic and impossible assaults. (Can anyone believe that one can stick two fingers down an ear for example?) Most upsetting to me, perhaps, is the high praise blurbs it prints on the dust cover from high ranking US military officers.

[Arsenovic Nikola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prica o rimljaninu koji je odsluzio vojni rok i koji je placenik ali spoznaje ljubav prema detetu i svom uceniku i zrtvuje i menja svoj zivot zbog njih a nit price je pavlova poslanica Korincanima

[Shane Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Soldier for 20 years. Steven Pressfield’s “A Man at Arms” caused me to reevaluate what that means.

Military theorist Carl Von Clausewitz famously demands the profession of arms be examined in its absolute form, free from idiosyncrasies, foibles, and unfettered by organizational dogma. Either via the experience of a centurion former life, or by divine gift of the muse, Pressfield masterfully strips away the trappings of modern warfare and examines the life of the warrior in the absolute: raw, unforgiving, and guided by unwavering clarity of purpose. Unfolding against the Middle Eastern, Roman empire backdrop in vivid Pressfieldian manner, A Man at Arms traps the reader in awed captivation as the hero endures adventure, trial, and brutality with resolute fidelity to his purpose that will rend your soul.

This book is a game changer. I did not put it down once I began and will be dissecting for years to come. A brilliant gut-punch to the senses and the psyche.

When you finish this book, regardless of your profession, you will be faced squarely with an inescapable question- what do you believe in, and how far would you go to protect it?

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This riveting novel tells of a Roman soldier, war-hardened and fiercely realistic, who is hired to intercept a letter written by Paul to the underground church in Corinth. What happens along the way is what makes this book so profound and moving. I will never read 1 Corinthians again without this story echoing in the back of my mind.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immensely entertaining. No one does historical fiction quite like Pressfield. You never get the feeling that you’re just reading about modern characters in an ancient setting. It seems to me that he works very hard to get the details right, and it makes for a very immersive experience.

[Joe Jansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of "A Man at Arms," by Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield’s newest novel, “A Man at Arms,” opens on a roadside in Judea in the year 55 AD, some two decades after the crucifixion of a Hebrew prophet whose followers continue to prove troublesome for the Roman Empire.

A caravan of merchants and other travelers pause at the foot of a grade, knowing from experience that the summit is a favorite spot for brigands, bandits, and thieves to lay in ambush. We’re introduced to the novel’s main characters. First, a local boy, David: “son of Eli, age fourteen, unlettered but of sturdy limb and abundant ambition.”

Among the pilgrims and peddlers milling about and fretting on how they might continue on the road to Damascus without being waylaid and robbed blind at the top of the hill, David takes note of a father with his young mute daughter in tow. David is “struck by the child’s apparition. Feral, dirty, with bare soles and hair so matted it seemed neither comb nor brush could be pulled through it, the girl seemed more a wild animal than a human being.”

David then spies “the most striking personage in the enclosure,” a solitary soldier with a tattoo on his forearm, LEGIO X, indicating his service in the Roman Tenth Legion. His countenance and equipage suggest he’s fought on the battlefields of many lands.

The boy observes that “the man’s weaponry was of legionary provenance, but adapted in a way David had never seen.” A Roman lance, but cut down and modified for close-in fighting. At his side, a short Roman ‘gladius’ sword. He carried a “bow of extraordinary length, constructed of the Amazon science,” nestled in a wolfskin case with arrows of the type used by Syrian and Parthian horse archers. He wields a leather throwing sling of the type employed by shepherds. His cap was wool, like those favored by seamen. The man-at-arms speaks Latin, Greek, and Aramaic. Thus we are introduced to the mercenary Telamon of Arcadia, and the two youths with whom his path will cross.

In an opening action scene that begs to be on the big screen, Telamon reluctantly provides aid to the column of travelers, dropping marauders and freebooters with the deadly efficiency of a skilled combat veteran – yet not out of compassion for their plight, but for the purse of coin with which he expects to be paid.

Post-skirmish, Telamon is taken into custody by a late-arriving Roman patrol, the mercenary running afoul of his former comrades when, seeing the feral girl-child about to be assaulted by a brute legionnaire, Telamon’s “...face went black with fury. With a single violent stride, the warrior broke from the circle of spearpoints and flung himself upon the legionary.”

In the melee to save the child from violation, the girl and her father escape astride a stolen cavalry mount. Held responsible for their escape, Telamon is then pressed into service by the Romans. His directive, now with the boy David in tow as an apprentice, is to pursue and apprehend the child’s father, who Rome believes is carrying a message that could threaten the stability of the empire, before that message can be delivered to the seditious Christian underground based in Corinth, Greece.

These events set in motion an epic tale that matches or surpasses Pressfield’s earlier works of historical fiction like “Gates of Fire,” “The Afghan Campaign,” or “Last of the Amazons.” “A Man at Arms” is Pressfield’s 20th book and his 11th novel, and reflects his talent in creating a sense of place and realism. With sometimes sparse language, his prose can evoke a frisson of fear and apprehension. When seeing a workshop full of Roman crucifixes, sized to fit man, woman, or child, Telamon gestures to the wooden crosses and queries the Roman garrison commander:

“Does it work?”

“For what?” the garrison commander replies.

“To hold the populace by terror?”

The Roman considered this. “Not really. But it breaks the tedium.”

The story moves at the speed of a racing chariot -- short chapters around six or seven pages in length keep the reader embedded deeply in the first century. Nearly every chapter ends with a hook that elicited a margin note from me, like: “DANG!” or “The clock is ticking!” Or just “Wow.” I have more than one friend who’s read an advance copy and claims to be afflicted with sleep deprivation from being unable to stop turning pages, late into the night.

Telamon is rendered as a three-dimensional character, but equally as interesting is the nine-year-old mute girl, who plays a critical role in this story. We know there is something special about her and that she has a deep inner strength, which she shows straight away from the opening sequence. After the initial bloody skirmish where Telamon has dispatched the band of thieving marauders, all the itinerants and merchants have run for safety or taken cover – except for this young girl, who “alone stood forward, barefoot on the summit track, her gaze fixed upon the man-at-arms.”

Later when she is denied the chance to participate in a dangerous mission:

“The girl’s jaw worked hard. She had a fistful of stones and now hurled these one after another, hard, against the walls of the wadi. She did not throw like a girl.”

The relationship between Telamon and the child evolves. The novel’s plotline of “a man with a savvy young girl in his charge, embarking on a dangerous journey” may have readers hearkening back to this theme appearing previously between characters like Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross in “True Grit,” or between Moses Pray and Addie Loggins in “Paper Moon.”

Pressfield has written that he never consciously intended to create Telamon. The Arcadian arrived on the page unbidden as a mercenary and assassin in Pressfield’s 2000 novel, “Tides of War: A Novel of Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War,” set in Greece around 430 BC.

Telamon appeared again 100 years later (the man yet unaged) as mentor to a young king and later a general in Pressfield's 2004 novel, “The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great.” It’s worth noting that at the end of that novel, Telamon took leave of Alexander’s service to follow a line of pilgrims into India to become, as we are meant to understand, a monk.

The mercenary even appears briefly in Pressfield’s 2011 near-future thriller set in 2030, “The Profession,” where a former Marine captain refers to “my old enlisted mentor, Master Sergeant Vaughn Telamon of Arcadia, Mississippi.”

Now in “A Man at Arms,” Telamon commands center stage – or at least shares it with a nine-year-old mute girl who, on some levels, is his equal. The mercenary Telamon has his arc in this story, much like the smuggler Han Solo in the Star Wars saga: out to get paid and concerned only for himself, until he finds something greater to care about. Telamon is even chastised for his selfishness by his former Legion commander, Marcus Severus Pertinax:

“What is that passage from your credo, Telamon? ‘Only fools fight for a flag or a cause’? Yes, that’s it.”

Yet in “A Man at Arms,” Telamon changes. He finds something greater to fight for.

In the run-up to the launch of “A Man at Arms,” Pressfield released a video series entitled “The Warrior Archetype” (https://stevenpressfield.com/2020/08/...). In these twice-weekly videos, Pressfield led readers on an exploration of how the “warrior ethos” applies not only to external wars and warriors, but to our own inner battles and struggles. The series led us to Telamon.

The Warrior Archetype also led to something more universal: to an investigation of how we, by necessity, evolve from archetype to archetype: son/daughter, wanderer, warrior. Then to lover, husband/wife, king/queen, sage, and finally, if we’re lucky, to mystic.

Steven Pressfield has mused whether Telamon the Arcadian is something of his own “alter ego.” As Telamon has evolved over the past two decades – from assassin to mentor to general to monk – and then to what he becomes in this novel, Pressfield’s books have reflected a deepening of insight over time, and a deep regard and respect for all religions as ways we try to understand our place in the cosmos.

His first novel, “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” was based on a story from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita (the warrior Arjuna appearing as WWI veteran “Rannulph Junuh,” and the deity Bhagavan as “Bagger Vance”). His historical narrative “The Lion’s Gate: Behind the Lines of the Six Day War” and his biographical “An American Jew” were tied to his exploration of his own Judaism. People familiar with the Christian Bible will recognize in “A Man at Arms” that the dangerous message (which is the MacGuffin in this novel) is none other than "Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians.”

This work of historical fiction is a strong and page-turning addition to Pressfield’s body of work. My favorite Pressfield novel is usually the one I just read. “A Man at Arms” does not break that streak.

The first five chapters are available for free download at AManAtArms.com. The book is available for preorder on Amazon and launches 2 March 2021.

[Edu Zancaner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un ex legionario romano, devenido en mercenario, valora solamente el oro y acepta un encargo simple. Formando un extraño grupo persigue a un hombre que lleva una carta del apóstol San Pablo que puede prender las llamas de la rebelión en Corinto, Grecia.
La carta no es tan simple y la filosofía del mercenario, centrada en el oro, tampoco.

Una novela histórica ambientada en una época sobre la que no se escribió tanto, el origen de una religión y la oposición de las ya existentes.

Los personajes Moshinus y Balerus terminan de acercar al estoicismo el enfoque de la novela.

De todas maneras, mi preferida de Steven Pressfield, sigue siendo "Gates of Fire"

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Road with the Roman Terminator across ancient Israel.

Pretty different from Pressfield's other works, always feel entertained and learn something at the same time. More of an intimate story with fewer characters and interesting stakes. Great meditations on the intersection of religion and history.

[Tom Frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with Gates Of Fire, the other book I’ve read from author Steven Pressfield, A Man At Arms was hard to put down. As a Christian and fan of historical fiction I found the main plot, the delivery of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthian’s, particularly interesting, and the premise not one I’ve previously seen explored in historical fiction. Combine that with plenty of action and historical context, and you come up with a real page turner!

[Connor Bartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire book!

[Kyle.L.Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pressfield is at the top of his game and in full command of his subject matter with Man at Arms. Raw and powerful. Hybrid history at its best.