Defender of Rome

(Gaius Valerius Verrens 2)

By: Douglas Jackson

Narrated by: Cornelius Garrett

Brought to you by Penguin.


This riveting and action-packed historical thriller from bestselling author Douglas Jackson is real edge of your seat stuff! Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane.

Readers are loving Gaius Valerius Verrens!
"Absolutely incredible." - 5 STARS.
"Gripping, violent and captivating." - 5 STARS.
"The best Roman historical series I've yet read. Just pips Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden." - 5 STARS

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Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the successful campaign against Boudicca in Britain. But he is not the man he once was - scarred both physically and emotionally by the battles he has fought. And neither is Rome the same city as the one he left.

The Emperor Nero grows increasingly paranoid. There is talk of a new threat, one found within the walls of Rome itself. A new religious sect, the followers of Christus, deny Nero's divinity and are rumoured to be spreading sedition.

Nero calls on Valerius to seek out this rebel sect and to capture their leader. Failure would be to forfeit his life, and the lives of twenty thousand Judaeans living in Rome.

But as Valerius begins his search, a quest which will take him to the edge of the empire, he will discover that success may cost him nearly as much as failure.

Gaius Valerius Verrens's adventures continue in Avenger of Rome.


© Douglas Jackson 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2011

Critic reviews

A master of his discipline rightly hailed as one of the best historical novelists writing today

Great writer but the story is hurried

A great novel. However the biggest let down in this book is that it feels a bit hurried. Looking at Simon Scarrow or Bernard Cornwell in comparison you see a big difference in taking the time to set a scene and developing a story. It feels rushed, even though there is a lot of room for character development. Hopefully this will change later on in the series

Well written and researched

I loved how accurate the story is, down to the minutiae. I don’t appreciate how Paul still was referred to as Saul, even after his conversion. However, the author was fair to the early church, in my opinion, showing that they (like us) were flawed individuals.

This is a story I highly recommend, and will listen to again.

Haven't Finished it, tried many times

This book is not as good as the 1st of the series, or at least so far. I've listened to about 2-3 hours of this story & the flow, action, & back story is just not as entertaining as 'Hero of Rome.' The narrator is the same so that isn't the problem & its interesting to see how he has dealt with what happened in 'Hero.' I will try to give it another chance at some point soon but I moved onto the Roman Legion Novels with Macro & Cato.

I find these books are very good but not quite in the same league as the Roman Legion books... But, Ludlow is still a great author