The Slave King
The defeat of Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium and the beginning of the rule of Octavian as sole leader of the Roman world, later the Emperor Augustus, heralded a long period of peace between Parthian and Rome. But whereas Rome entered a period of internal harmony, in Parthia the various kingdoms became restive under the rule of King of Kings Phraates. ‘The Slave King’ explores the period immediately after the defeat of Tiridates and the beginning of Phraates’ long and event-filled reign.
You know three things, Pacorus:
Your ‘army’ totals only one hundred men and one hundred women.
No help is coming.
The gods are unreliable allies.
Peace has been restored to the Parthian Empire.
The king of kings graces Dura with a visit, the son of Spartacus sits on Media’s throne, a great army has been assembled to deal with the eastern threat, and Rome is no longer an implacable enemy of Parthia.
Pacorus looks forward to enjoying a permanent cessation of hostilities. But the gods abhor peace and so to amuse themselves they lure the King and Queen of Dura to Media to face daunting odds against a mighty foe. Can Pacorus save the new King of Media, prevent Spartacus from unleashing death and destruction on Armenia, and preserve the peace between Parthia and Rome?
‘The Slave King’ is the tenth volume in the Parthian Chronicles and follows on from ‘Amazon’. A map of the Parthian Empire in the 1st Century BC can be found on the maps page of this website.
