Gods of Men, Amphipolis

From the award-winning author Philip Remus comes the fourth gripping novel in the celebrated Gods of Men series: "e;Gods of Men, Amphipolis"e;. Meticulously woven around historically authentic events and figures, this instalment plunges readers into the dust-choked battlefields and shadowed council chambers of ancient Greece.It's been 7 years since the start of the Peloponnesian War. Sparta and her allies and Athenian Empire are in stalemate in a protracted war of attrition.Following the Spartan disasters at Pylos at the islet of Sphacteria, Brasidas, recovered from his wounds, turns his gaze north, into the rugged hills of Thrace, aiming to strike at the very heart of the Athenian empire. His objective is Amphipolis— the glittering diadem of Athens' northern territories. Seizing it would sever Athens from the vast timber forests needed to build its warships and cut off the rich flow of gold from the Pangaion mines. The stakes could not be higher; this is a struggle between titans, Sparta and Athens locked in a duel to the death. But treachery waits in the form of an avaricious king, whose loyalties shift like desert sands.Meanwhile, Brasidas's brother, the spy Pheidon, uncovers a chilling Athenian stratagem: a pincer movement against Boeotia led by generals Demosthenes and Hippokrates. What follows is the largest hoplite confrontation of the war—the Theban-led Boeotian League standing firm against Hippokrates' army of over eighteen thousand, a clash where bronze shields splinter and the bloody earth drinks deep in a dramatic battle upon which the freedom of Boeotia depends.Betrayed by Perdiccas and abandoned by promised allies, Brasidas presses onward with seventeen hundred crack Lakedaimonian hoplites at his back. To the astonishment of all Greece, this hardened band crushes all opposition, drawing new supporters as honey draws bees. Now, before the high walls of Amphipolis, Brasidas readies for his final duel with his Nemesis, Cleon—one that will carve Brasidas's name forever into the stone of history.