The Third Emissary — Michael Vetter

The Roman Empire in the first century A.D. A network of agents known as The Cohort is run by the powerful Roman politician known as Senator Tatius whose goal is to return the empire to its republican roots. When Emperor Caligula is assassinated by his own bodyguards in 41 A.D. and Uncle Claudius is put on the throne by the Praetorian Guard, The Cohort faces a challenge to its very existence. Rome's plan to conquer distant Britannia requires control of an important naval base in Mauritania located at the Pillars of Hercules between the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans. The base must be secured by an Army legion before a political delegation to the region can extract tribute from the local Berber tribes, by force if necessary. Two novice operatives of The Cohort are secretly placed into a Mauritanian delegation to report back to Senator Tatius about naval and trade negotiations. Legatus Linius Crispus Valerius, head of The Cohort in Asia Minor, (see The Quiet Centurion | Book I), gives two young men their orders and sends them into a web of diplomatic and military intrigue. Linius Crispus and his assistant, Ming, run into their own dangers in Roman provinces across norther Africa and Syria. The Third Emissary | Book II continues a fictional series that traces the lives of a Christian centurion, his family, and a host of characters during the period 35-74 A.D. The rapid spread of Christianity intertwines with the inexorable expansion of the Roman Empire.