Soldier of Rome: The Legionary by James Mace

Six. Long. Years. For Six long years, Artorius has longed for revenge. His older brother, Metellus was brutally murdered at Teutoburger Wald by Arminius and his men. Men who were supposed to be loyal to Rome. Now of age, Artorius joins the Roman Legions. And now Rome and Artorius are bend on revenge. But Arminius is cunning and he isn't going to bow before Rome and her legionaries.
I have read a lot of books about Rome, but none about her military conquests. Rome's military might is (in)famous, and was a force to be reckoned with. Rome was the military gold standard.
The characters in this book were good. Althought Artouris' main goal was revenge, he wasn't one dimensional. His mental and physical development matched his character development. The material in this book is VERY dark and gritty at some places. The brutality is almost overwhelming, but it is accurate. This isn't fictionalized drama. Mace doesn't gloss over the harsh realities faced by Rome's legionaries. I found the high contrast between Germania's roughness and Rome's silkiness fascinating.
This was a great book, and I found myself engrossed despite the "manliness" of this book. I also read the sequel to this book, Soldier of Rome: The Sacrovir Revolt. I will review this book on Wednesday! I will probably find myself reading the rest of theses books after I fulfill some other reading obligations.

 I received these books from Pump Up Your Book Promotions. Visit the tour page here.