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FREE WARRIOR OF ROME III: LION OF THE SUN PDF Harry Sidebottom | 480 pages | 15 Apr 2011 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780141032313 | English | London, United Kingdom Warrior of Rome Series Harry Sidebottom 6 Books Collection Set | | Buy Books Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Lion of the Sun by Harry Sidebottom. It's Mesopotamia, AD Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, the Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. The shame of the vanquished beats down mercilessly like the white sun, as the frail old emperor prostrates himself before Shapur, King of Kings. Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the It's Mesopotamia, AD Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. One day, maybe not soon, but one day, I will kill you But first he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom. Only the fearless and only those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending. Ballista, the Warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Warrior of Rome 3. Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Lion of the Sunplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Lion of the Sun Warrior of Rome, 3. Dec 06, Mary rated it it was amazing. Harry Sidebottom's "Lion of the Sun" continues the story of Marcus Claudius Ballista, a courageous "Warrior of Rome" born to the Angles but raised as a hostage in the Roman imperial court. When we left Ballista at the end of "King of Kings" he, along with his emperor Valerian, had fallen victim to Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun treacherous plot by the emperor's treasurer, T. Fortunately, a Dr. Fortunately, although Ballista's prospects looked pretty grim, especially considering his past victories against the Persians and his practice of cremating the Persian dead despite the knowledge that it was viewed as a desecretion of holy fire by the enemy Zoroastrians, Ballista's famillia including his devoted Hibernian body guard Maximus, his lovingly irrascible Caledonian guardian Calgacus and his poetic Greek secretary Demetrius had escaped. So I wondered how they would rescue him from what looked like certain death. Having met the revolting Macriani in "King of Kings" Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun also hoped Ballista could avenge himself and his emperor as the tale unfolded. But it was not Ballista's famillia that came to his rescue. It was the frail old emperor who finally remembered who he had always been able to trust. Historically, Valerian Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun had a high regard for Ballista, as illustrated by the following communication from Valerian to a prefect of Illyricum quoted in the Historia Augusta: "From Valerian to Ragonius Clarus, prefect of Illyricum and the provinces of Gaul. If you are a man of good judgement, my kinsman Clarus, as I know that you are, you will carry out the arrangements of Ballista. Model your government on them. Do you see how he refrains from burdening the provincials, how he keeps the horses in places where there is fodder and exacts the rations for his soldiers in places where there is grain, how he never compels the provincials or the land-holders to furnish grain where they have no supply, or horses where they have no pasture? There is no arrangement better than to exact in each place what is there produced, so that the commonwealth may not be burdened by transport or other expenses. Galatia is rich in grain, Thrace is well stocked, and Illyricum is filled with it; so let the foot-soldiers be quartered in these regions, although in Thrace cavalry, too, can winter without damage to the provincials, since plenty of hay can be had from the fields. As for wine and bacon and other forms of food, let them be handed out in those places in which they abound in plenty. All this is the policy of Ballista, who gave orders that any province should furnish only one form of food, namely that in which Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun abounded, and that from it the soldiers should be kept away. But the old emperor had been seduced by Macrianus into believing his seemingly loyal courtier acted upon reliable intelligence about the whereabouts of Persian forces and ignored Ballista's repeated warnings about the army's precarious position. Now that it appeared all was lost, Valerian realized the ambitious Macriani had inadvertently left him an instrument of redemption. Without a hint to Shapur that Valerian had finally realized the ambitious author of the treachery, the old Roman asked Shapur to send Ballista to Macrianus' headquarters to negotiate a ransom, knowing full well that Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun would refuse any suggestion of ransom. But Valerian's best general would then be free to first, drive out the Persians, then deal with the imperial traitors. But is Ballista being snatched from the frying pan only to be delivered to the fire? Much of the ensuing story is based on the few fragments of history that survived Rome's brutal Third Century including the much maligned and historically suspect Historia Augusta. The Historia Augusta says Maeonius Astyanax claimed Ballista openly supported the usurpation of the Macriani saying: "As for myself, my age and my calling and my desires are Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun far removed from the imperial office, and so, as I cannot deny, I am searching for a worthy prince. But who, pray, is there who can fill the place of Valerian except such a man as yourself, brave, steadfast, honourable, well proved in public affairs, and — what is of the highest importance for holding the imperial office — possessed of great wealth? Therefore, take this post which your merits deserve. My services as prefect shall be yours as long as you wish. His age precludes him from seeking the purple himself? Ballista was only in his thirties! Although his military calling and personal ambitions may not have included the purple, he was hardly too old. In fact, he was probably not that much older than the sons of Macrianus. Sidebottom's novel, instead, has Ballista publicly accept the office of Prefect only after a henchmen of the Macriani makes veiled threats about Ballista's family that was essentially at the mercy of the Macriani in Antioch if Ballista refused to support the regime. I think this is a far more believable scenario as there is nothing in the histories to suggest Ballista was ever one to exploit a political situation. But, either way, Ballista once more ends up in command of much of the Roman army in Syria and he once more inflicts serious losses on the invading Persians. Sidebottom's gritty descriptions of 3rd century warfare leave you breathless and his excellent characterizations makes you worry about not only Ballista's welfare but the fate of loyal Maximus, cranky old Calgacus and even the gentle Demetrius. Ballista's wife, Julia, gets her moment to shine too as she confronts Persian warriors in a surprise attack on the city of Antioch. The Persians, though, are not the ultimate enemy. To restore the imperium, Ballista must kill the Macriani pretenders but not until he can find a way to safeguard his wife and two Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun. When Macrianus the Lame and his namesake Macrianus the Younger leave for Europe to challenge Valerian's son Gallienus for the throne of the entire Roman Empire, Ballista is ordered to remain with Quietus. Now, at least, the odds for Ballista's opportunity to exact retribution improve. However, when Quietus receives word that his father and brother have been defeated Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun killed in Thrace, he becomes paranoid and imprisons Ballista and his family. He captured the king's treasures and he captured, too, what the Parthian monarchs hold dearer than treasures, namely his concubines. For this reason Sapor [Shapur I] was now in greater dread of the Roman generals, and out of fear of Ballista and Odaenathus he withdrew more speedily to his kingdom. We read that Ballista was killed along with Quietus when Odaenathus captured the city of Emesa. But in the very next section of the Augusta Historia about Odaenathus himself, the Historia Augusta says while Odenathus was defeating Quietus at Emesa, Ballista claimed the purple for himself to avoid being slain. Then under section 18 of Volume III describing Ballista, the author of that portion if it is not Warrior of Rome III: Lion of the Sun same as the rest of the work details yet another fate of Ballista but admits that he really doesn't know what happened to Ballista since most ancient sources only refer to his prefecture not any reign as usurper.