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PARRICIDE is a gripping Courtroom drama and crime thriller set in
Ancient Rome. Sextus Roscius the Elder is brutally murdered on the
streets of the great city and his son is then accused of the crime,
the serious offence of Parricide in Roman Law. If convicted, he
faces a horrible, and terrifying punishment. The Roman Orator,
Cicero is asked to defend Sextus at his forthcoming trial and he
embarks on a journey through Rome and Italy trying to discover the
complicated truth behind the murder. He soon finds that the trial
has an important political dimension, involving a favourite of the
Roman Dictator Sulla. The reader is taken through the whole trial,
from the opening speeches of the lawyers, the dramatic
cross-examination of the witnesses, through to the verdicts and the
surprising aftermath. The novel is based on the published speech of
the famous orator and lawyer, Marcus Tullius Cicero which he made
over two thousand years ago, in his first ever murder trial.
Many have heard of the heroic stand of the three hundred Spartans
at Thermopylae but what happened to the Spartans after that battle?
The Myth of Sparta begins with the death of Leonidas, the Lion of
Sparta, and the famous three hundred Spartans, at the battle of
Thermopylae and culminates in a dramatic retelling of the battle of
Sphacteria, a battle which dramatically deals with the question of
Spartan invincibility. It tells the story of the relations between
the Spartans and the Athenians who turned from being the closest of
allies into implacable enemies. It follows the lives of many of the
Spartans during this period, meeting its Kings and Regents, as well
as lesser known characters such as Styphon, a young Spartan, whose
life we follow through the mysteries of the brutal training at the
Agoge, the Spartan school for warriors. The novel describes the
machinations of the Athenian politicians such as Pericles and Cleon
who seek to control Athens as near dictators, forcing their will
upon the people, acting through the power and guise of a Democratic
society. The author follows the lives of lesser known Athenians,
such as Demosthenes, who becomes a General and changes forever the
strategy that the Athenians follow in their confrontations with
Sparta. The book explores the life of the Helots, Greek citizens
who were long ago subjugated by the Spartans and turned into
slaves. In particular, we meet Kallistos, who waits until a great
Earthquake brings Sparta to her knees before he strikes violently
to challenge the serfdom he detests so much. The Myth of Sparta
covers all of this and more, breathing life into historical
characters and describing in dramatic detail, a period of history
long forgotten.
"The Return of the Spartans" is a sequel to "The Myth of Sparta"
and continues from where that book ends with the capture of the
Spartan Hoplites at the battle of Sphacteria. We follow their
captivity through the eyes of their leader Styphon and watch
individual's machinations as the Spartans and Athenians continue
their war against each other. We observe numerous battles between
the two in detail, seen through the eyes of their most famous and
in some instances, infamous citizens. We follow the political
machinations of Cleon, Nicias and Alcibiades in Athens and see how
they are dealt with by the political satirist at the time,
Aristophanes, who referred to all of them in his plays. Many of the
characters from "the Myth of Sparta" appear again including the
philosopher, Socrates, the Athenian General, Demosthenes and the
Spartan General Brasidas, whose campaign in Northern Greece we
observe through the eyes of his men. The book recreates the period
in significant detail and as was described by one reviewer of "The
Myth of Sparta," is, "a highly enjoyable way to revisit one of the
most significant periods of western history."
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