Shaftsman Series

Julius Caesar, the famous Roman general, politician and dictator, desperately needed money. To get it he spent a year in Spain looting everything that could not be hidden and taking from everyone who could not hide it fast enough. To protect his fortune he ordered that a new Legion of Roman soldiers be raised and trained. This is the story of the start of the Tenth Legion as told by a farm boy turned trickster and professional killer who was there when it all happened. In his second letter Iron Shaft reveals his rural origins, why he is taught how to steal, what happens to the family farm and why he has to join the Legion. With a total lack of modesty he tells us of his successes in training, making his enemies fear him and making women love and lust for him. He was called Iron Shaft for a good reason, and this letter tells us why.

This is the story that Julius Caesar never wanted told. For almost two thousand years the famous Roman dictator has had a monopoly on history. His was the only version we could read of the many battles he fought in pre-Christian Gaul (modern France) before returning to Rome and becoming one of Shakespeare's popular heroes. Now, spattered with blood, sex and intrigue we have the letters of Iron Shaft - a soldier in the famous Roman Tenth Legion, who tells a very different tale. With a sharp sword and a sharper pen he stabs right into the guts of his enemies and gives us the lust, the reasons and - the truth. He was there. He made it happen. A penetrating account of how he made his enemies shiver and their daughters quiver. He was called Iron Shaft for a good reason!

A deal has been done. Caesar, Crassus and Pompey, three powerful Romans, have divided up their world between them and Caesar has retained Gaul, along with all its Legions and all its riches. But this is not enough for such an ambitious man. He wants more. He wants to set foot in two more countries; Germany and Britain. To do this he needs ships to sail across the English Channel. Romans are not good sailors, so he sends his legions into Gaul to start building, and stealing, the vessels he needs. Iron Shaft is given the task of finding and taking the transport ships owned by the coastal tribes and making them ready for Caesars soldiers. As he quickly discovers - this is not an easy task and he must devise a new way of disabling the faster and stronger transporters. He encounters a bald bear, an eloquent dwarf, a spy and a princess. He also runs into a selection of old enemies and makes some new friends - with his sword and with his shaft. Will Caesar finally set foot in Britain? Not if his enemies can prevent it. Caesar needs the strength of Iron Shaft - and so do the women of Gaul. He is called Iron Shaft for a reason.

In this letter to his patron in Rome, the soldier Iron Shaft tells us about the Druids. Julius Caesar has marched his legions into Gaul and is recovering from his first major battle. His German enemy, Ariovistus, is invading the northern Gallic tribes and threatening to move south. He must be stopped. But before the next battle there is one small matter to take care of first; the Spring of Epona must be restarted. The black Derwid Druid sect must be driven away from this sacred site and the waters hidden in the rock made flow again. Only Iron Shaft has the means to do this so the white Druid sect sends in two of its best agents, a high Druid priest and - a beautiful, seductive girl with enough charms to make any normal man do anything she asks. Iron Shaft, as this letter shows, is not any normal man, and must use all his considerable powers to service the Druids, help Julius Caesar overcome a mutiny, defeat the German enemy - and - get the girl. He is not called Iron Shaft for nothing!

Caesar needs money - he always needs money. Having settled matters in Rome he sends his legions north in Gaul to collect what they can. Iron Shaft goes with them. He has been promoted and is now in charge of the legion hospital, a job that his General hopes will keep him out of trouble, especially with the more beautiful of the female Gauls. Unfortunately Caesar’s enemies are not all barbarians - some are in his own camp and eating at his own table. Disaster follows. A battle is almost lost; a sea monster is found. Caesar is struck down and only Iron Shaft can save him by going to another country across the water and recovering the sacred ingredients he needs to restore his health. Meanwhile the Druids are plotting and carrying out their own plans. Iron Shaft falls under the spell of a bewitching Druid priestess, who has her own agenda and who prophecies Caesar’s destiny - but only if he follows her instructions! In this letter Iron Shaft tells us about Roman medicine, Druid politics, dastardly plots against Caesar and sets sail across the Narrow Sea to the Island of Dogs, where he helps find the one object that can save Caesar and the one object his enemy needs more than any other. He also is of special service to the wickedly beautiful little Druid.

Iron Shaft goes to Rome, and that city will never be the same again. Julius Caesar needs his help. Enemies are gathering their forces and intend to elect a Consul who will charge Caesar with treason and drag him out of the protection of his Gaulish legions and back to Rome to stand trial. So, Caesar turns to Iron Shaft, sends him to Rome along with vast quantities of gold, his dangerous Ubii cavalry, and a plan to bribe the Consuls and voters. But it is never that simple. Iron Shaft is quickly sucked into the plots and plans of the other two powerful members of the triumvirate, Crassus and Pompey, which put him in great danger. So he leaves for Egypt, meets Cleopatra before she loses her virginity and saves her life. Naturally, he gets his reward. Back in Rome Pompey is becoming more powerful and a looming danger to Caesar, so he must be stopped. His wife, Caesar’s daughter, is pregnant and the future of Rome depends on the birth of a son. Iron Shaft learns a deadly secret and hurriedly escapes back to the safety of a legion. Should he tell Caesar the deadly secret and plunge the world into Civil War? He is not called Iron Shaft for nothing!

Before he can become the Greatest Roman of them All, Julius Caesar must fulfill the Druid prophecy and place his foot onto the lands of two more enemies; the Germans and the Britons. In Gaul the legions are gathering and Iron Shaft rejoins the Legio X only to find that he is already in trouble with the General. He is first given the task of sorting out the cavalry, a strange task for someone that horses hate, but in doing so he finds and rescues a new friend. After seducing the exotic daughter of a vicious enemy, a mysterious murder of an important Roman tribune and a brief invasion of Germany, Iron Shaft and his new friend are sent to Britain to prepare the way for a visit by Caesar. Once again sex, politics, Druids, horse races and even frogs complicate the life of Iron Shaft during Caesar’s “friendly visit” to the King of the Cantiaci across the Narrow Sea. Storms wreck the Roman ships, stranding them in a land growing more and more hostile to their presence, and the schemes of the black Druids threaten the life of the King and the safety of Caesar. What is Iron Shaft going to do? He uses a technique for which is is admirably equipped. He is not called Iron Shaft for nothing!