Anazar lives to fight in the Roman arena, for he doesn't have any other purpose to his masters. A runaway who got caught and branded is unsaleable. The lanista, the master of the events, dislikes how Anazar refused to slay unarmed men in a re-enactment. Hence he's had the slave beaten. Life is pretty bad, but Anazar doesn't wish to die just yet.

MARK OF THE GLADIATOR takes us straight into the brutality of Roman life, where one Numidian is worth only what his owners can get out of him. Anazar is leased to Marianus, a wealthy man who wishes to train a stable of female gladiators. This fighter was the entertainer of the day, when affluent men paid for spectacles to secure public votes. The fourteen gladiatrices are a mixed bunch who don't all speak Latin, though Amanikhabale can speak and read it, and as their new trainer, Anazar has his work cut out. But if he succeeds, he just might earn his freedom.

This adult novel shows us various sides of life at the time, from the squabbling, plotting wealthy to the galley slaves and valuable scribes. Relaxation in the baths is the only pleasure allowed to Anazar, but some men wish to take pleasure from his body, and he can't refuse. Spendthrift Felix, his master's younger brother, is the target of an attempted assassination one night and Anazar saves him, altering his status and turning him into a bodyguard. But there's still the matter of training the gladiatrices, and they're more likely to kill one another, or a Roman, than fight together....

The total immersion in the times, the continuous uncertainty of a slave's life, are well realised; details such as bullock carts making deliveries after nightfall, fine mosaics in rich homes and wooden swords painted silver, never cease to convince. Loyalty may not keep Anazar alive, given the constant plotting going on around him. At the end is a glossary, though Latin terms such as damnati - prisoners condemned to die - are self-evident in the context.

MARK OF THE GLADIATOR may appeal to those with an interest in Roman history or gay literature. The element of romance is constantly bound up in danger and betrayal, but brings a pleasing conclusion to Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane's adventure