Adrian Goldsworthy - Az fortress

Adrian Goldsworthy, the world-renowned researcher of the history of ancient Rome, presents a trilogy of novels with a special atmosphere on his favorite subject - the first volume of which is now in the hands of the dear reader. We are at the beginning of the second century AD, at the time of the greatest territorial expansion of the Roman Empire, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, at the Al-Danube, or more precisely a little further north, in the frontier region of the empire. The main hero of the book is a soldier, Ferox centurio, that is, roughly a centurion according to today's terms, who now has a huge responsibility: he will be the commander of the rather vulnerable Piroboridava fortress, which is exposed to Dacian attacks.

Ferox is no ordinary centurion: he is a child of the Silurians, a proud and warlike Celtic tribe that lived in what is now Wales, and many other members of the fort's garrison are also from Britannia. Otherwise, she is the wife of Ferox, who is straight up the ruler of an allied Britannian people who is good with weapons. Another main character of the novel is the praetor Hadrian, the adopted son of the emperor Trajan, the later emperor Hadrian.

As we follow Ferox's fate full of dangers and adventures and the actions of Hadrian, we are imperceptibly drawn into the world of Roman civilization and military culture, and we are helped by none other than one of the best experts on the subject. It makes the narrative even more exciting and gives the book a special atmosphere that we are on the frontier of Roman civilization and cross over into the "barbarian" world, and most of the characters in the novel are semi-barbarian, even if they are on the Roman side. so we see the Roman world from the outside as well as from the inside. The novel is an engaging read for both those familiar with Roman history and those without.