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The Emperor Series Books 1-4
Conn Iggulden
The first four books in Conn Iggulden’s acclaimed Emperor series brilliantly interweave history and adventure to recreate the astonishing life of Julius Caesar: the greatest Roman of them all. Now in one complete eBook for the first time.THE GATES OF ROME, THE DEATH OF KINGS, THE FIELD OF SWORDS, THE GODS OF WAR.From the spectacle of gladiatorial combat to the intrigue of the Senate, from the foreign wars that secure the power of the empire to the treachery that threatens to tear it apart, this is an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, bravery and betrayal. Look out for the fifth and final instalment in the series, published in 2013.
The Emperor Series: Books 1–4
Conn Iggulden
Copyright (#ulink_4b86bffb-11a2-5709-9056-4994d5b72f76)
These novels are entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in them, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Emperor: The Gates of Rome first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2003
Emperor: The Death of Kings first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2004
Emperor: The Field of Swords first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2005
Emperor: The Gods of War first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2006
Copyright © Conn Iggulden 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Version 1
FIRST EDITION
Conn Iggulden asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
Ebook Edition © December 2012 ISBN: 9780007514526
Version: 2017-08-18
Table of Contents
Title Page (#u30bae937-bdaf-52f5-82fc-d0529bbff7dd)
Copyright (#u19adc630-b9be-5337-bf47-f3e3e93c0007)
Emperor: The Gates of Rome (#u77f6bf87-2b1a-5330-b5d1-405c2f114ce6)
Emperor: The Death of Kings (#uab26f8ef-2ae1-5957-a8d4-79a26dc06320)
Emperor: The Field of Swords (#uc3ce6587-ed42-59fd-a659-298c86253280)
Emperor: The Gods of War (#ua8532ef4-5833-53fd-855c-f3e1cc16d34e)
About the Author (#ue10dc1bf-7b7f-59eb-b50e-496c0032cb89)
Also by the Author (#u3aab20ab-2c4b-5063-8816-db5ef24e995d)
About the Publisher (#ubf401cc7-bde7-53d7-be3f-79e1201291e7)
(#ulink_3bd5c03c-c30a-5a9b-8751-d589b0fee8cb)
EMPEROR
THEGATES OF ROME
CONN IGGULDEN
Copyright (#u0a9cf12d-51a6-5de0-b23e-0ab6561e1a0e)
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while based on historical events, are the work of the author's imagination.
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2003
Copyright © Conn Iggulden 2003
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
Ebook Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007321759
Version: 2017-08-18
To my son Cameron and to my brother Hal, the other member of the Black Cat Club
Table of Contents
Copyright (#uff652c9a-4552-55fb-99a8-3432d47a2e4b)
Chapter One (#u63af025b-76f8-50c6-9415-86f31623113e)
Chapter Two (#uc0784fc9-e5b7-5cae-8d56-aea46d11fee9)
Chapter Three (#ua93281c3-962d-5203-91f0-cf1ae474b2d7)
Chapter Four (#u30dd9899-d86e-5835-983c-ba05e3347f20)
Chapter Five (#ub9e045ed-2c4d-5ce2-bc5d-e83b091e6e7c)
Chapter Six (#u87244d05-e9f4-5672-b4ee-ae6be0772248)
Chapter Seven (#uef4e9875-9d77-595c-ad37-e9d40c953a5d)
Chapter Eight (#ud4e0366e-219a-567e-9634-ceb6664a3eba)
Chapter Nine (#uc8a81029-3c8e-54cc-944b-b0e52a404818)
Chapter Ten (#u1893c410-0d59-5de9-85f1-a4d3adf0fed5)
Chapter Eleven (#ub746a237-16ac-533d-84ff-f01c03f7a853)
Chapter Twelve (#u05b9cae4-d02f-524e-8b37-205cc7a7cd3a)
Chapter Thirteen (#u55b4a9ae-9cac-5371-b9bd-493da0ed6222)
Chapter Fourteen (#ufbc6ee19-dd3a-50a7-8747-b900faa41eca)
Chapter Fifteen (#u1a943c82-c24d-58d9-bb12-202e13156b6e)
Chapter Sixteen (#u6bed592b-f54e-503c-8872-d449f145667e)
Chapter Seventeen (#ubedc0643-66b0-5d9c-bf07-ad81777c4c53)
Chapter Eighteen (#u5f14f88a-e5b6-5007-829a-914378f136a3)
Chapter Nineteen (#u2245857d-6f9d-5c01-9eef-ea44e365015b)
Chapter Twenty (#u99fa3cfe-471e-5933-b8af-5878804339b1)
Chapter Twenty-One (#u7a8076b7-57ee-5507-9c87-c3e6d499387c)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#uf5ce5c28-a52c-5d7d-b503-bf48debc0b58)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#u7b43f2de-6186-5ce9-b58c-e49ac52636ac)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#u438d1220-81dd-5bdc-ba60-d07c0839782f)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#u5a1bffb9-5339-5a55-b4c3-cd64ce5074c9)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#u03027802-ce2c-5eb0-939b-908152a41543)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#udda92553-0f72-500b-b13c-9574d07806d6)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#u060bfb6b-e28d-524e-8826-f766fe2efa5d)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#ue8420fc9-c847-5685-8da3-a0988d43cfdb)
Chapter Thirty (#u2f745357-0ce7-58e1-8273-7fa224068b1d)
Chapter Thirty-One (#u6ee90d10-2843-5ad7-8826-52be93959140)
Chapter Thirty-Two (#uc717f71f-8963-5165-83a2-3e438e052988)
Chapter Thirty-Three (#u2d7d65e8-a788-5f81-bfea-2ae6f52ea357)
Chapter Thirty-Four (#u17e79776-c5c6-5802-97f5-67cd674fc79d)
Chapter Thirty-Five (#u51ff5711-75a2-5e9f-8e13-7ea32032b750)
Historical Note (#uc1e061a9-0f4b-57f4-a3bb-2b3565635f1e)
Acknowledgements (#u36f9d3c1-3dde-5bb9-82d7-293517cb0eb0)
CHAPTER ONE (#u0a9cf12d-51a6-5de0-b23e-0ab6561e1a0e)
The track in the woods was a wide causeway to the two boys strolling down it. Both were so dirty with thick, black mud as to be almost unrecognisable as human. The taller of the two had blue eyes that seemed unnaturally bright against the cracking, itching mud that plastered him.
‘We're going to be killed for this, Marcus,’ he said, grinning. In his hand, a sling spun lazily, held taut with the weight of a smooth river pebble.
‘Your fault, Gaius, for pushing me in. I told you the river bed wasn't dry all the way.’
As he spoke, the shorter boy laughed and shoved his friend into the bushes that lined the path. He whooped and ran as Gaius scrambled out and set off in pursuit, sling whirring in a disc.
‘Battle!’ he shouted in his high, unbroken voice.
The beating they would get at home for ruining their tunics was far away and both boys knew every trick to get out of trouble – all that mattered was charging through the woodland paths at high speed, scaring birds. Both boys were barefoot, already with calluses developing, despite not having seen more than eight summers.
‘This time, I'll catch him,’ Gaius panted to himself as he ran. It was a mystery to him how Marcus, who had the same number of legs and arms, could yet somehow make them move faster than he could. In fact, as he was shorter, his stride should have been a little less, surely?
The leaves whipped by him, stinging his bare arms. He could hear Marcus taunting him up ahead, close. Gaius showed his teeth as his lungs began to hurt.
Without warning, he broke into a clearing at full pelt and skidded to a sudden, shocked stop. Marcus was lying on the ground, trying to sit up and holding his head in his right hand. Three men – no, older boys – were standing there, carrying walking staffs.
Gaius groaned as he took in his surroundings. The chase had carried the two boys off his father's small estate and into their neighbours' part of the woods. He should have recognised the track that marked the boundary, but he'd been too caught up in catching Marcus for once.
‘What do we have here? A couple of little mudfish, crawled up out of the river!’
It was Suetonius who spoke, the eldest son of the neighbouring estate. He was fourteen and killing time before he went into the army. He had the sort of trained muscles the two younger boys hadn't begun to develop. He had a mop of blond hair over a face speckled with white-headed eruptions that covered his cheeks and forehead, with a sprinkling of angry-looking red ones disappearing under his praetexta tunic. He also had a long straight stick, friends to impress and an afternoon to while away.
