The Iron Hand of Mars

Emperor Vespasian dispatches Marcus Didius Falco to Germania to investigate a dangerous rebellion by Roman-allied tribes, the disappearance of a Roman general, and the mysterious activities of a Druid priestess who may be the only person capable of convincing the Germanic tribes to embrace peace rather than continued war. Falco goes undercover in a society where Roman authority is tenuous at best and his life depends on passing as something he is not.

Simon Prebble gives Falco his characteristic combination of sarcastic Roman pragmatism and genuine investigative intelligence, making the first-century Germanic setting feel as fully realized as the Roman Forum. His performance handles the novel's political complexity, the tensions between Roman imperial ambition and tribal independence, with the dry awareness that Falco himself would bring to the situation. Prebble's narration of Lindsey Davis makes ancient Rome feel inhabited by actual people.