Speculative-historical fiction that reimagines the clash of Caesar and Pompey's armies following the crossing of the Rubicon. A young Roman recruit's skill with a javelin changes the course of his and many other lives in this debut novel by a short short-story prize winner. The story's protagonist, Lucius Pontius, is levied as a scribe in the service of Rome's legendary Marcus Cicero, and faces danger from the land and sea, complicated by the illicit affections of the senator's daughter, and jeopardized by the knowledge of Caesar's forged will.