The year is 118 A.D. More than five years have passed since Tiberius Artorius Castus, Dux Britannica, departed to fight beside Emperor Trajan against the Parthian Empire. At his command was the legionary and auxilia division, Exercitus Britannica, known to the men in the ranks as Minerva’s Spear.

Crossing the breadth of the Empire, they battled across the frozen mountains of Armenia, through the scorching wastes of Mesopotamia, before recapturing Cyprus during the catastrophic uprising across the Jewish diaspora. Their numbers depleted, the survivors exhausted, they are eager to return home. They return to a Britannia in turmoil. No sooner has the division landed on the fair shores of Albion, they are sent north to battle Brigantes rebels and invading armies from the northern tribal kingdoms.

Despite their war weariness, the soldiers of Minerva’s Spear fight with renewed vigour, this time for their families and their homes. In Rome, Imperator Caesar Hadrianus, following the example of Augustus, knows an emperor cannot rule an empire from the confines of the capital. He sets in motion plans for an extensive tour of the western provinces, eventually crossing the Britannic Channel. No emperor has visited Rome’s northernmost province since Claudius’ brief foray, eighty years prior. Hadrian intends to personally set foot upon the very Edge of the Empire.