Shadows of the Empire: The Frumentarii Chronicles 1

By william pow

Book one of the highly anticipated roman series from author William Pow:

ROME, AD 88. To the citizens of the empire, the frumentarii are humble logistics officers ensuring the grain wagons run on time. But to Emperor Domitian-isolated, calculating, and consumed by paranoia-they are something far deadlier: the secret eyes and ears of the Palatine.

When veteran frumentarius Lucius Varro discovers a butchered courier on the Via Flaminia, a stolen supply manifest reveals a treasonous plot of staggering scale. Diverted rations, forged imperial requisitions, and senatorial gold are quietly feeding a mutiny on the northern frontier. At Mogontiacum, Governor Saturninus is poised to march two battle-hardened Rhine legions south to drown Italy in blood.

Dispatched by Gaius Cassianus, the architect of Rome's emerging intelligence apparatus, Varro plunges into a shadow war. Flanked by the hardened auxiliary Titus Afer and the sharp-witted courier Marcia Fulvia, Varro races across freezing Alpine passes and besieged outposts-only to find his former comrade, Quintus Valerius Rusticus, leading the vanguard of the revolt.

From brutal dockside ambushes to the inferno of burning granaries, Varro must hunt down traitors before the empire collapses into civil war. But as the purge begins, he confronts a chilling reality: to save Rome, he may be forging its most terrifying weapon.

In the shadows of the Pax Romana, the harvest of blood has begun.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMLWZNG6
• ISBN13: 9798160752532
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 435 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"