The Beast of Verona

The Beast of Verona

Book I of The Decimus Trilogy

Taken prisoner as a traitor to the Roman Empire, Decimus Roscius Lupus is sold into servitude as a gladiator in the Verona amphitheater. A natural warrior, Decimus has earned himself a reputation in the arena as a vicious combatant. But the secret behind his uncanny success lies not in his strength and prowess, but in a generational curse that only his manager is aware of. When he catches the unwanted lustful attention of a young politician’s daughter, he is tempted out of his violent complacency.

Howard, a young man in line for the position of leader in his family in the states, is sent on a quest by his father to discover the truth behind their ancient heritage. He thought the trip to Italy was foolish and unnecessary. Why did the life of a first century gladiator have to do with his leadership skills? With the help of a shy and clumsy, but beautiful, history buff, he comes to learn much more than he ever expected about his ancestry and himself

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Story Behind the Story

So, originally this trilogy was meant to be unrelated short stories in a collection of paranormal romances. But, I came to discover that I can’t write anything short to save my life. As I was writing the second installment of this trilogy, the word count soared to double wha is expected of in a short story. To my chagrin, I then began to develop the first and integrated the same characters, turning just a few small ideas into a trilogy of novelettes. This is also the first paranormal historical romance I have ever attempted. I spent hours watching documentaries, researching to get as many facts right as possible. I’m sure that I have missed some important detail, but with limited funds to travel to places like Rome and Pompeii for the field research, this is the best I could do. This combines my love of history with my odd fascination with the paranormal and I hope readers will enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed doing the research to write it.

Concept Art

Howard/Decimus

Marina (but with longer hair)

Caprasia

Dimachaerus – Two swords (one siccae, one gladius), leather leg and arm wraps, tight fitting helmet visored,

Gallus – Sword, big rectangular shield, very similar to the murmillo

Mumillones – Fish fighter

Scissores – Fought with a curved shear weapon and dagger, close fitting helmet with small eye holes, wore wrapped linen around both arms and a metal grieve on one leg. No shield.

Thracian – Fought with curved sword called a siccae, helmet with a crest, face plate and feathers, a parmula (circular shield), wrapped arm armor, heavy leg protection up to his thigh,

The Retiarius (How Decimus fights) – Supposed to resemble a fisherman with a net weapon. Went up against heavily armored gladiators. Lightly armored for maneuverability. No helmet. Often went up against the murmillones (fish fighter). Fought with net, trident and dagger called pugio. Armored with Galerus, a shoulder shield. Wore tunics and sometimes barefoot. Net had weights to make it spread when thrown and synch closure to entrap enemy.