They are known as the Legion of the Damned... Throughout the Roman Army, the brutal XIIth Legion is notorious for its ill fortune. For one young man, Demalion of Macedon, joining it will be a baptism of fire. And yet, amid all of the violence and savagery of his life as a legionary, he will come to love the Twelfth and the bloody-minded, dark-hearted soldiers he calls his brothers. But during the punishing Judaean campaign, the Hebrew army inflict a catastrophic defeat upon the legion - not only decimating their ranks, but taking away their soul - the eagle. There is just one final chance to save the legion's honour - to steal it back. To do that, Demalion and his legionnaries must go undercover into Jerusalem, into the very heart of their enemy, where discovery will mean the worst of deaths, if they are to recover their pride...