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If you have never shared in the brutal, bloody, struggle of the Second Augusta on campaign, or the nefarious political machinations of the greatest Empire on this planet, then there has never been a better time than now to pick up with the adventures of Quintus Licinius Cato and Lucius Cornelius Macro. For the uninitiated, Cato and Macro are the fictional creations of author Simon Scarrow, who since 2000‘s Under the Eagle , has been recounting the mishaps and triumphs of two officers of the Second Augusta. Joining the legion on the Rhine border in AD42, Cato is a well educated freeman, brought up in the imperial palace, and seconded to the ranks of the legion as its youngest junior officer. As both probatio and Optio, Cato faces the wrath of his fellow recruits and disgust of veteran officers. He soon comes to adjust to a life on campaign, and the challenge of not getting himself killed. His greatest ally is veteran Centurio, Macro, a blunt, hard nosed soldier, who sees in the young, green officer, a tremendous level of courage and a way to avoid his hated paperwork. As Centurio and Optio, Macro and Cato, soon form an unlikely pair, with the learned, moral, Cato gelling with the brusque, ‘get the job done’ attitude of Macro. The two soon come to the notice of legate Vespasian, Tribune Vitellius and the Emperor’s man Narcissus, and find themselves drawn ever more deeply into the power plays of these men as they battle and connive for the imperial throne. From the forests of Germania to the battlefields of Britannia in The Eagle‘s Conquest, When the Eagles Hunt and The Eagles and the Wolves, Maco and Cato have crossed blades with Caractacus and the druids, smashed through the lands of the Cantii, taken the great fortress art Maidum (Maiden Castle) and along the way have made many friends and as many enemies. With their reputation before the governor of Britannia left in tatters at the conclusion of The Eagles Prey, Macro and Cato have returned to the heart of the Empire, and the attention of Narcissus. In the excellent The Eagles Prophecy, the now promoted Cato joined Macro as Centurio in charge of the marines of the Ravenna fleet, once again under the command of the hated Vitellius. The further away from their beloved Second, the stranger, and more dangerous the missions have become, and now in the latest, The Eagle in the Sand, Macro and Cato find themselves dispatched to the East, to the province of Judaea and all new enemies and allies.
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Cato & Macro’s adventures take them to the Eastern Provinces in ‘The Eagle in the Sand’ |
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Marching With the Cato & Macro |
