Arbutus

Book excerpt: Timius Arbutus is the son of a Roman Legionnaire. Human frailty of others leaves its mark on him in his formative years. At an early age he is taken to a Roman institution equivalent to a boarding school where he remains until his teens. On leaving the institution he has to fi nd work and eventually decides to follow in his father's footsteps and become a legionnaire. Towards the latter end of his army career he is very much disturbed by an event that took place and in which he was tasked. Another more senior legionnaire witnessed the same event and was traumatised by it. It is a work of fi ction based on various facts but written as though most events took place circa AD35. Some place names and those of individuals are fi ctitious and bear no resemblance to the actual places or any living persons.