Arena

The first in a series of action-packed novellas set in ancient Rome introducing Pavo, a novice gladiator, and featuring Simon Scarrow's ongoing soldier character Optio Macro. It is AD 41. The savage Gaul Britomaris has defeated the best of the Roman gladiators in the arena. Now a young volunteer, Marcus Valerius Pavo, the son of a murdered general, has been given a month to prepare to face Britomaris in a fight which only one man can survive. He is to be trained by veteran soldier Macro, who fears for his young trainee's chances.

Rome under the rule of the ruthless new Emperor Claudius is a dangerous place. Condemned to gladiator school, Marcus Valerius Pavo, the son of a treasonous general, is a celebrated hero following a dramatic victory in the arena. Now he finds himself pitted against one of the greatest gladiators who ever lived: Decimus Cominius Denter. Though Denter has fallen on harder times, he is still a formidable opponent, and it is up to newly decorated Macro to whip him into shape.

The imperial gladiator school in Capua: once the pride of the Roman Empire, lately driven to the brink of ruin by a greedy lanista. Now the school welcomes its newest recruit: Marcus Valerius Pavo, the high-born gladiator with a string of impressive victories to his name, sworn to seek revenge for the brutal murder of his father. Meanwhile, Lucius Cornelius Macro, the decorated optio of the Second Legion, has been appointed as the school's new lanista. Macro faces a race against time to turn the school around before the start of the games in Rome, held in honour of the new Emperor.

The opening day of the Games in Rome is a time for celebration in honour of the new Emperor. But for Marcus Valerius Pavo, a young military tribune fallen from grace, only despair awaits. Along with former mentor Optio Macro, Pavo must fight for his life in a ferocious beast hunt. Battling against lions and bears, he'll have to use all his wits to survive as well as the help of a hated former rival. But when Pavo achieves a stunning victory, his reward is to be condemned to death in a chaotic free-for-all. Now the young gladiator faces a race against time to triumph over the odds....

From the moment his father was executed in the arena for an act of treason, former military tribune and condemned gladiator Marcus Valerius Pavo has burned with the desire for revenge. Now all that stands between Pavo and victory is a man considered by many to be the greatest gladiator to have ever lived: Hermes. But even with Optio Macro as his trainer and the help of the snakish imperial secretary, defeating Hermes appears an impossible task.