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Harper
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London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Copyright © Harry Sidebottom 2015
Maps © John Gilkes 2015
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover photographs © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images (Roman eagle and Soldiers); Shutterstock.com (texture)
Harry Sidebottom asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
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Ebook Edition © MAY 2015 ISBN: 9780007499908
Source ISBN 9780007499915
Version 2017-10-27
To Katie and Jeremy Habberley
Do not fear god,
Do not worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure
PHILODEMUS (HERCULANEUM PAPYRI 1005, 4.9–14)
One could press on or draw back in a private enterprise, and commit oneself more deeply or less at will, in accordance with the prospects of the moment. But in the pursuit of an empire there was no mean between the summit and the abyss
TACITUS, HISTORIES 2.74
Table of Contents
