Maia

A washed-up Fleet Street journalist visits a remote coastal village in north-west England as a struggling freelance. It's a mundane assignment to Ben Miller - until the words on a hidden stone near Hadrian's Wall reveal one of ancient Rome's greatest secrets. But Miller's promising change of fortune turns to disaster when a tidal wave brings death and destruction to the Solway Coast. More than 2000 years earlier a Greek slave is caught up in the vicious rivalry between a young, inexperienced Octavian and the powerful Marc Antony to replace Caesar as leader of the Roman Empire. The slave Damon becomes Octavian's personal guard, and through the savagery of civil wars and political treachery they form a unique friendship. But although Roman historians glorify Octavian's rise to emperor, the heroic deeds of his slave are forgotten. From '80s Britain to ancient Rome this novel follows the life and fate of two men. Although centuries apart, their paths are destined to meet as Miller strives to redeem himself and restore a Greek hero's rightful place in Roman history.