Vederius Ligustus is a much decorated Centurion who, as a matter of honour, engineers the assassination of a Tribune making a mortal enemy of General Falco. The General demands the Emperor executes him. Instead Vederius is given an all or nothing mission to free the Imperial Legion from corruption and seize barbarian treasure during the coming war. Vederius pulls together a specialist team to carry out the task but tensions between them seems destined to tear them apart before they succeed. It doesn’t help when he falls for a beguiling enemy spy, hunted by Imperial security and intent on preventing him seizing the treasure. Vederius must employ all the tricks he knows to turn a weak and frightened cohort into fighting soldiers before he leads them into battle. As the barbarian war boils into life, the conflict in his team comes to a head when he leads a reckless mission during the siege of a barbarian fortress. Vederius’s team eventually come together and are rewarded by finding the barbarian treasure. After the war, they smugly revel in their success until Victor rescues the enemy spy from slavery and discovers it was all just a decoy. He is forced to side with the spy when her confession is intercepted by the General who sets out to find the treasure. In pursuit, Vederius finds his friend and other officers of the General's Legion murdered. He finally realises the General intends to steal the treasure and claim the Empire. He must defeat the General and his Legion with a small number of men but has no idea how to overcome the odds. In a desperate attempt to deliver the Emperor’s legacy, Vederius turns to his dead friend to put things right but the General's right hand man has other ideas and intends to kill Vederius even in his hour of triumph.

A Butcher’s Wilderness Q. Vederius Ligustus P Pilus Legi XXX Ulpia n. Italica Turditania Hispania

The diaries tell Vederius Ligustus’s story and were discovered in the small cave at the back of this photo of Herculaneum. It’s an intriguing story kept out of the press by the local authorities.

The Dacian war: The Dacian Wars (101–102, 105–106) were two military campaigns fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Roman Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant Dacian threat on the Danubian Roman Provinces of Moesia and Pannonia and also by the increasing need for resources for the economy of the Roman Empire.