The powerful third novel in the series is full of dramatic battles by land and sea, led by tremendous characters on both sides
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The young Greek captain Atticus�is now a commander of the growing Roman navy. They are�blockading a port near Tunis when the Roman legions suffer terrible defeat by the the triumphant
Carthaginian army, spearheaded by elephant charges. When he and his ships escape together with the main body of the Roman fleet, they are first�outmaneuvered by the Carthaginians, then
are caught and almost completely annihilated by a terrible storm. Atticus and his crew are among the handful of survivors, and being the messenger of this news to the Senta in Rome brings
Atticus into political troubles almost as stormy as the sea. He begins to feel not only that a Greek will never be accepted by the Romans, but also that the behavior of many, both
politicians and soldiers, is such that he is not sure that he wants to be a Roman.