Marcus Arrius is the senior centurion of the ill-fated XXII Legion, serving in Judaea during the second century Roman Empire. Focused on duty and his men to the exclusion of all else, Arrius is a loyal, battle-tested soldier. Following Hadrian’s suppression of the second Jewish revolt in Judaea in 135 CE, his core belief in Rome begins to erode without understanding why. For his prowess in Judaea, he is highly decorated and given the opportunity for assignment in Rome to command the Praetorian Guard. Instead of accepting the prized command, he requests duty on Hadrian’s Wall. It will be Ilya, a beautiful native woman in Britannia, who will become the catalyst for understanding why he chose command of an obscure frontier fort instead of fame and fortune in Rome.