Republic

the long version

"Two patrician youths, Aulus Cornelius, and Lucius Falerius, appeal to the Alban Sybil, a Roman oracle, for a glimpse into the future, but all she offers are ominous words and the drawn outline of an eagle, which portends death. That night, to ward off evil, they make a blood oath to remain true to each other throughout life." "Twenty years later Aulus, now a successful general, must face his toughest battle yet when his young wife Claudia is captured by Celtic-Iberian rebels. Although reunited, ignoble shame threatens to fall upon the Cornelius family ... unless the clandestine birth of a child can be concealed." "Lucius has chosen a career in politics; he is the leading patrician in the Senate, wielding power and willingly abusing it to maintain his aristocratic supremacy. All Lucius lacks is an heir, a problem to which he is determined to find a solution, whatever the cost." "Both men's destinies are intertwined with an abandoned baby found with a gold eagle charm wound around his foot. Could the old Sybil's prophecy prove to be more powerful than Aulus and Lucius ever imagined?"--BOOK JACKET.