The Last Free Men

de David Coles

During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd Century AD, Rome’s Ninth Legion was sent to Hadrian’s Wall in northwest Britain to quell an insurrection that threatened the Empire’s hold on the region. They were never heard from again. Historians have speculated for centuries about what might have happened to the mighty Ninth Legion—here is one intriguing possibility.THE LAST FREE MEN is the story of Marcus Gettorix, son of a Roman general and a British woman living in the northwest frontier of Rome’s mighty empire (modern-day Scotland). The Roman Army is determined to consolidate its grip on the British Isles, but the native peoples are rallied into constant rebellion by the Druids.The Romans rely on scouts who dress and speak as the native peoples for intelligence, and Marcus has been trained for this role. While acting undercover he is rendered unconscious during a battle and is captured. His commandant is dead, leaving no one to attest that he is actually a Roman soldier. He is sentenced to work in the mines with the rest of the prisoners.Quick to take advantage, the Druids use Marcus as a figurehead and fan the flames of resentment into an insurrection that joins British and Scottish tribes against the Romans. Now allied with the Druids, Marcus lures the ambitious Roman general in charge of the Ninth Legion into a deadly trap destined to create one of history’s greatest mysteries.