Donna Gillespie Libri

<b>Quo Vadis</b> for our times! Well, not exactly. It's been awhile since anyone tackled the Roman Empire as entertainingly as Gillespie has done in this book, a nearly-straight historical novel which should please readers of fantasy, too. Germanic Auriane is a combination of the noble, natural savage, and the heroine marked from birth for great deeds. Roman Marcus Julianus is the personification of the highest civilized, republican Roman values. Both are typical and atypical of their societies, fighting for what each believes to be just. Their individual struggles with the clashing Roman and Teutonic cultures are carried out in the Northern forests and in the salons and arena of Rome. Strongly- drawn characters, a setting both familiar and exotic (we all know something of imperial Rome, but very few of us are well-informed about it), a whiff of New-Age ancient mysticism, and a subdued but important romance subplot drive the sweeping novel of Auriane's growth and maturity and Rome's decadence.

Auriane, warrior maiden of the Chattian tribe, was sworn to remove the cursed Romans from the lands of the Rhine. Then fate intervened: she was captured, brought to Rome in chains, and trained to fight in the arenas as a gladiator - only to fall in love with a Roman aristocrat, Marcus Arrius Julianus, and become his wife. Marcus and Auriane have lived in tranquility for years but, without his knowledge, Auriane is a traitor to Rome. Plundering her husband's coffers for nearly a decade, Auriane has provided her people with enough wealth to arm themselves. Now, Auriane's betrayal has been discovered, and if her duplicity reaches the Roman authorities, her life - and the lives of her family - will be forfeit.