Set in the late Roman Republic, in the first century
B.C.E., The Forgotten Legion is a tale of the
greatest empire of the ancient world from the perspective of
those on the lowest rungs of its society. Romulus and
Fabiola are twins, born into slavery to a enslaved mother
who is much beloved by them, and much abused by their owner.
At 13 years old, they and their mother are sold: Romulus to
gladiator school, Fabiola into prostitution, where she will
catch the eye of one of the most powerful men in Rome, and
their mother into obscurity and death in the salt
mines.
Tarquinius is an Etruscan, a warrior and
soothsayer, born enemy of Rome and trained by the last
haruspex in the forgotten arts of divination. A runaway
slave, then an AWOL Legionaire, he has a long foretold
destiny that will take him to the very ends of the known
world. Brennus is a Gaul from the Allobreges tribe. In
the battle against the Roman army, his entire family,
perhaps his entire tribe, is slaughtered, and only he
survives to be sold as a slave to be trained as a gladiator.
He rises to become one of the most famous and feared
gladiators of his day - and mentor to the boy slave,
Romulus, who dreams night and day of escape and of
revenge.
The lives of these four characters are bound
and interwoven in a marvellous story which begins in a Rome
riven by corruption, violence and political enmities, but
ends far away, where Romulus, Brennus and Tarquinius find
themselves fighting against the Parthians and overwhelming
odds - survivors of one of the most legendary battles in
Roman military history and destined to become part of one of
the most compelling, enduring legends: The Forgotten
Legion.