An entertaining look at one of the defining moments of the ancient world. Mr Gann creates a whole cast of characters, many drawn from reality, others spun from his imagination and the sparse historical writings of the period and place, and tells a terrific story about a what should have been a straightforward campaign for the Roman conquerors. He does do that thing that so many historical novelists new to the genre do of sinking the reader so deeply into the milieu that the story gets lost for a time but that only lasts until the plot kicks in. A great read.