A.D. 255. The Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, its authority challenged along every border. The most lethal threat lurks far to the east in Persia, where the forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace. One man is sent to marshall the defences - a man whose name itself means war, a man called Ballista.

AD256 - a battle-bloodied Ballista returns to the Roman imperial court at Antioch from the now ravaged city of Arete. There he discovers men who would rather see him dead than alive. Even his courage and loyalty to Rome and the emperor are not above suspicion.

Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, the Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. 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.

AD262 - the Imperium is in turmoil after the struggle for the throne. Furthermore, Ephesus, Asia's metropolis, lies in ruins, shattered by a mighty earthquake. Its citizens live in fear as the mob overwhelms the city, baying for blood to avenge the gods who have punished them. Yet an even greater threat to the Empire advances from the North.

Ballista is in a strange land, among strange people, but is it possible that the greatest threat may come from within his own familia?

Warrior of Rome: The Amber Road is the sixth book in Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome series. AD 264 - The Roman Empire is torn in two. The western provinces - Gaul, Spain and Britain - have been seized by the pretender Postumus. To the east, on the plains of northern Italy, the armies of the emperor Gallienus muster. War is coming. Everyone must choose a side. On a mission shrouded in secrecy and suspicion, Ballista must journey The Amber Road to the far north to Hyperborea, back to his original home and the people of his birth. A fearsome, masked warlord attacks, bringing fire and sword...

AD 265, Gaul - The Roman Empire is on the brink. Emperor Gallienus has amassed a huge army across the Alps to seize back the mountains from the usurper Postumus. War has come. Ballista and his cavalry are on the frontline, battling in the most brutal of conditions. But if he is to survive the campaign and finally retire to his beloved Sicily, it's not just the battlefield he needs to navigate. As he and Praetorian Prefect Volusianus lay siege to Postumus' armies, it becomes clear the greatest threat to Ballista's life might just come from within his ranks. After all, Volusianus...