Kindle
$5.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$21.30
Paperback Bunko
$16.04
Buy new:
$21.30
FREE delivery May 17 - 24
Ships from: GF Books, Inc.
Sold by: GF Books, Inc.
$21.30
FREE delivery May 17 - 24. Details
Or fastest delivery May 20 - 21. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$21.30 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$21.30
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
GF Books, Inc.
Ships from
GF Books, Inc.
Sold by
GF Books, Inc.
Sold by
GF Books, Inc.
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$10.33
Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... See less
$3.98 delivery May 20 - 21. Details
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$21.30 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$21.30
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by glenthebookseller.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Douglas Jackson
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Hero of Rome (Roman Trilogy 1) Hardcover – January 1, 2010

by Douglas Jackson (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,239 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$21.30","priceAmount":21.30,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"30","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ChXcySohSieZNhoZ%2Ff5zSAbyJqwllql%2BqbleGKbPUfzpZ2y42dtWE7R2Mb%2Bmf12WrIEesaVmU21paTIaLjqJrw58umPsCxkiI%2BWti%2BywNkaZKl48W2o8diWUL6uIyHmX4Gpega4U3%2FDkySCHffXN86UIQUFSVIfA8m6J36arX9rEz92yeRWw7ZlbboyMOELn","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$10.33","priceAmount":10.33,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"33","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ChXcySohSieZNhoZ%2Ff5zSAbyJqwllql%2BKsi848qOAbHCtphnC9KD9AxJFxBfB14TUmDOGOOLA8aj01AwDRkiGPJnYVkWTwPwkdvIpkAA60tdUjTxjYe0dj%2Bab%2B80DZ5UMuBjnan%2FgxugQRTRPnenP0vCL4Pz5c6JcoRWAMyOevMxFKN5d620baOz0o2AHMbl","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 9
    Gaius Valerius Verrens
  2. Print length
    336 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Bantam Press
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2010
  6. Dimensions
    6.3 x 0.91 x 9.45 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0593065123
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0593065129
  9. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Hero of Rome (Roman Trilogy 1)
$21.30
Get it May 17 - 24
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by GF Books, Inc..
+
Defender of Rome (2) (Gaius Valerius Verrens)
$12.64
Get it May 21 - 28
In stock
Usually ships within 2 to 3 days.
Ships from and sold by SuperBookDeals-.
+
Avenger of Rome (3) (Gaius Valerius Verrens)
$15.37
Get it May 22 - 30
In stock
Usually ships within 4 to 5 days.
Ships from and sold by indoobestsellers.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam Press; First Edition (January 1, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593065123
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593065129
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.26 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 0.91 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,239 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Douglas Jackson

Douglas Jackson

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Douglas Jackson is the author of the successful historical novels Caligula and Claudius and my next book Hero of Rome, the first of a new trilogy, will be published in July 2010. I was born in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders in the summer of 1956. Educated at Parkside Primary School and Jedburgh Grammar School, I left three weeks before my 16th birthday with six O levels and no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Luckily, a friend worked in the local employment office and got me a place on a Youth Opportunities Scheme. It turned out to be restoring a Roman marching camp at Pennymuir in the Cheviot Hills and I had a wonderful summer turning turf and dreaming of Romans. Later I joined my local paper and for the next 36 years worked in local and national newspapers in Scotland, including the Daily Record and the Scotsman. I left the Scotsman after nine years as assistant editor in the summer of 2009 to become a full-time writer.

Get in touch or become a fan on my Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Doug-Jackson-author/245467143762?ref=nf

Or read my blog about the highs and lows of becoming a published author on http://dougsbookblog.blogspot.com

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
2,239 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ylvisaker
5.0 out of 5 stars “ Exceptional”only scratches the surface.
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2019
Verified Purchase
An amazing story. Great characters, rich in depth and breadth. You love the heroes, despise the evil, and feel the conflict for those who are both. Accolades for the entire book could be given for pages - but the last 100 pages were riveting. I raced through each page not because I was in a hurry, but because I did not want to interrupt one minute of the siege and it’s outcome. Bravo! I cannot wait the next in the series.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Frost
4.0 out of 5 stars Good start to a promising series.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
“Hero of Rome” by Douglas Jackson is a novel which related the rebellion of the ancient Britons led by Boudicca against Roman Rule, as seen by a Roman soldier.
Set in the year 59 AD, the story follows Tribune Valerius whose command of the Ninth legion Is about to end. The first part of the book begins with that legion besieging, assaulting and destroying a Briton town. Though protected by a palisade wall and ditches, the tough, veteran legion achieve a quick, bloody victory that results in the usual Roman retribution- all men are killed and the surviving women raped and killed , except for those women who fought alongside the men and were slain with their husbands. Surviving women and children were taken as slaves.
There is then an interlude of garrison duty in Valerius’ life , which affords him time to be entranced by Maeve, the beautiful daughter of a local Briton who lives in a Roman town / fortress built in honor of Claudius, the Emperor who conquered the country. Valerius and Maeve become secret lovers because her fellow Britons despised the Romans and would force Maeve to leave her lover and flee to the countryside.
The resentful natives’ disgust and hate for the Roman rule that exploits the local people as tax- impoverished serfs on land that was their once their own farmland was growing. Soon, Valerius and his commanders hear of a unknown presence , calling herself Boudicca, Queen of the Britons, who is fomenting rebellion and gathering an army. Valerius , who was on his way to Londonium to sail for home , is recalled to lead the Roman response to the enemy . He must face a vast enemy army seething with fury with only a few thousand legionnaires. When the battle comes , death comes with it.
Except for the first chapters of that siege mentioned above, The majority of the novel concerns itself with the hero’s life in and interaction with the Roman colony where he resides. Valerius is a dedicated officer, fair and firm- handed, respected by his soldiers , and trusted by his superiors. He is a man who does his duty. We see his growing affection for the beautiful Maeve and of her affection toward him. Valerius appealing character is well conceived and written; the reader feels connected . Their love affair is almost idyllic. Could it withstand the hurricane of warfare?
It is when Boudicca leads her army against the Romans that the novel grips the reader in some of the most effectively thrilling battle scenes in any historical novel. These pages are not for readers easily dismayed by blood and gore. The description of close-in combat with sword and spear waged at arms length is horrifying and compelling. So be warned.
Here the. plot summary ends here to avoid spoilers to the story.
Mr .Douglas has obviously done his homework on what life might be like in a Roman colony in a rainy, cold, hostile Britain of the 59AD. He gives the reader plenty of Latin names for people and objects for verisimilitude . I thought it was a bit overdone. The longish mid- novel romantic interlude slowed things, also, IMHO. ( But as a male, I prefer the action on the battle field to the bedroom.) Cover blurbs compared this book to those of Bernard Cornwell’s novels of Saxon -Danish- Viking war Historical saga As far as combat scenes go, a fair comparison. But Cornwell’s novels are more compact , and have greater impact. Yet, I take nothing away from Mr. Douglas’ very readable novel.
I recommend this first in the series of nine novels featuring Valerius the Roman. “ Hero of Rome is complete in the sense of not being a cliff-hanger, but the reader is made aware that the hero’s life will have more adventures.
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Paul Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars Hero of Rome by Douglas Jackson
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
When I mentioned on social networks that I was reading Hero of Rome by Douglas Jackson I was informed that I was going to love this book. Well between the time I started it and finished it I had begun writing my own novel(my first)...the main reason it took me so long to finish Hero. Normally I would have read a book this intriguing in a much shorter time frame but I needed to take time to get my efforts off the ground. The biggest problem I have encountered while having both balls in the air is this; Douglas Jackson is masterful. If I can be one-quarter as descriptive...if I can be one-tenth the character developer that he is, I will be a happy author. He has written a book that draws you right into the hearts and minds of his characters, most especially the main character, Gaius Valerius Verrens.

The place is Britain prior to and then during Boudicca's revolt. Valerius is a Tribune assigned to Colonia, the town where the temple to Claudius was built. He is due to return to Rome to begin his climb up the political ladder but finds himself instead in an impossible situation having to defend the town against a force of really ticked off British tribes that is at least ten times larger than what he has at his disposal. The first part of the book deals with the politics and policies used by Rome to bring Britain into "civilization". Naturally some Roman officials are overly dismissive of these barbarians in their charge and that is the fuel that ignites the tinderbox that Boudicca fans into a full fledged bloody revolt. The last part of the book, the revolt itself, is an edge of the seat, page turning brilliant example of great historical fiction writing. When I finished I knew I would be reading the rest of the books in this series which I am told by my social network friends are even better than the first. Oh my!
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jason Frost
4.0 out of 5 stars Dougls Jackson continues his wonderful storytelling...
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2011
Verified Purchase
This is my third Douglas Jackson book. Doesn't sound like a big deal... until I tell you that I've read his books almost back-to-back-to-back. And would have read the next one except it has yet to be released. (On a side note, I just checked Amazon tonight and the Kindle e-book version IS available now, HA!). You need not have read `Caligula' or `Claudius' in order to enjoy `Hero of Rome', but it was a nice surprise to see mentions of the previous two sprinkled in this one. It was like finding a golden nugget in an already full pot of gold.

I was enjoying this book from jump street but I REALLY got into it at the end. Oh yeah... if you love Roman battles then you'll love the one in here. How they get to that point is fascinating but the ending is `bloody' awesome. As others have stated, we get to read about Rome's favorite Celtic bitch, Boudicca. The stunning red head with the temper and means to shove a good one straight up Rome's arse.

Gaius Valerius Verrens is the main character in this one, however, I must say that my favorite was Crespo. Now once you read it you'll wonder what kind of medication I'm on because Crespo is just bad news. No wait... he's the bad news that bad news reads while waiting on bad news. He does things in this story that would make Satan blush, but I liked him because of that very reason. This is a great Rome book through and through. From the legionaries, to the prissy Tribunes, to the gore/blood/bone, to the endless paradox of her politics and allies; `Hero of Rome' is what you look for in a historical-fiction story. To say I'm looking forward to reading `Defender of Rome' would be the dumbest understatement of the year, so I won't say it. Sed pro Romanis.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Clemens Schoonderwoert
5.0 out of 5 stars A Glorious Gaius Valerius Verrens Start!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2021
Verified Purchase
Read this book in 2010, and its the 1st volume of the amazing "Gaius Valerius Verrens" series, from the author, Douglas Jackson.

In this book we encounter Gaius Valerius Verrens, Commander of the veteran legions at Colonia, and the Romans are preparing against the rising tide of Boudicca's rebellion.

This rebellion is the result of the cruelty and exploitation of the tribes by the Romans, and feeding the seeds of hate towards the Romans are the Druids of Britain, and this army of tribes is lead by the warrior queen, Boudicca.

Gaius Valerius Verrens and his men are unable to stop the unstoppable horde of Boudicca's rebel army, and step for step they must retreat towards the Temple of Claudius, to make a last stand there.

This last desperate and courageous stand at the Temple of Claudius will Gaius Valerius Verrens earn his lifelong fame and his accolade as Hero of Rome.

What is to follow is an amazing and gripping historical Roman adventure, where the people and soldiers are pictured in a very lifelike and humanlike way in their dealings with life and death, and where the atmosphere of this war in Britain, with all its cruelties and gore, is brought to us in a most incredible believable fashion by the author.

Highly recommended, for this is a terrific first episode of this great series, and that's why I like to call this marvellous book: "A Glorious Gaius Valerius Verrens Start"!
2 people found this helpful
 Report
K. Mick
5.0 out of 5 stars Was für ein Start zu einer Serie von höchst spannenden Büchern
Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
Douglas Jackson ist einer der besonderen Autoren die sich der römischen Geschichte angenommen haben. Von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite Spannung und sogar amüsierend geschrieben. Die Protagonisten kommen authentisch rüber und man wundert sich das man schon wieder ein Buch quasi "verschlungen" hat. In der Reihe der wirklich guten Autoren ist Douglas Jackson auf den ersten Plätzen zu nennen, zusammen mit Ben Kane, Ian Ross etc. Ich warte schon sehnsüchtig auf die folgenden Veröffentlichungen.
Report
Killjoy
5.0 out of 5 stars Romans and Celts, at it again...
Reviewed in Canada on June 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
There are so many novels about this particular time and place in history that when one stands out as offering a slightly different perspective to the usual endless blattle scenes and "For the empire!" rhetoric, it`s very welcome. Here is a soldier who knows his duty, but is also weary of seeing events play out that are, in his view, easily preventable, while also dreading the inevitable body count that will result. This makes Verrens a more relatable character than many in this sort of historical fiction. The only down side is that it all ends a bit quickly, but that is a tiny complaint. I will continue with this series.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Brent Towns
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait!!
Reviewed in Australia on July 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
I have to admit that I struggled with the first part of this book. But, whereas I would normally have discarded it, I persisted and it was totally worth it!!.
Once you get through the build up the action comes thick, fast and bloody as a small Roman band face the might of Boudicca's vast army.
The story itself has the one central character but it has multiple heroes.
Had it not been for the slow start I would have given it five stars.
That said I will definitely read more from this author.
Report
Mr. M. Ward
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow start but stick with it.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
The first half of this book is like Emerdale AD 59 but but please stick with it because half way through it really does pick up. Rome conquers all but how many lives were affected during the Roman empires uncompromising history. I recommend this book and I'll read the other 8 books that follow.
4 people found this helpful
 Report