Gods of Men Series

Far away from Sparta, a great naval battle is fought between the mighty fleets of Corinth and Megara against Corinth's ancient former colony, Corcyra, which has made an alliance with Athens, who have dispatched ten warships to join the Corcyraean fleet near some islands called Sybota. Little does anyone know, that from this battle, the bloodiest war in Greek history would spring…      As the greatest army ever massed on the Isthmus of Corinth prepares its invasion of Attica, Brasidas is sent with a force of Spartan hoplites to Messene, to put down any signs of helot rebellion and to patrol the coast.      Lysander, now an elite of the 300 hippeis (Dioskouri) is also dispatched to Messene on a separate mission. To take command of a small militia at the city of Methone, in defense against possible Delian skirmishes, little knowing that a fleet of 150 Delian war triremes, a 100 of them Athenian, is sailing for the poorly defended city, with an invasion force of near a thousand hoplite marines.      Besieged, Lysander can do little against such a force but fight to the very death, street by street, and with just a handful of Spartans, and a militia of loyal helots, he must hold Methone and hope that help will arrive in time.      Pericles of Athens, has not only taken on the might of Sparta, he has taken on the might of the gods themselves and soon, Death comes to Athens with the outbreak of plague, plunging the city into a disturbing and surreal world of madness and death…

Book 3. The war with the Athenian Empire becomes a brutal and violent war of attrition and revolutions. Corcyra (Korfu) revolts against the Athenian alliance and a bloody civil war breaks out. The Spartan fleet, under Brasidas clashes with the Athenians in a decisive battle, Athenian marines capture Spartan territory and Fortify Pylos. Brasidas is wounded The human face of Ancient history, Gods of Men, Rise of the Wolf is the third in my dramatic biopic charting the life and times of the Spartan Admiral/General Lysander 455 BCE(?) to 395 BCE and is a uniquely Spartan perspective of the Peloponnesian War and Spartan society in dramatized form, 432 BCE to 404 BCE. This Third novel, covers the period from 429 to 425 BCE. From the Siege of Plataea to the Battle of Pylos...      Between fighting the Delians and training his young Hearer, the lame prince Agesilaos, Lysander is pressured into taking a wife, the beautiful Telephassa. It may not be love, but the marriage is acceptable, and Telephassa soon falls pregnant. Meanwhile, Old King Archidamos dies and his son, Lysander's lover, Agis ascends the Eurypontid throne. His co-king, Pleistoanax of the Agiads is recalled from exile following corruption and skullduggery at Delphi…      The hated enemy, Athens is still beset by the plague and civil unrest from troublesome allies on Lesbos, refuse to surrender and the bloody war drags on…

FIRST PLACE CATEGORY WINNER of the CHAUCER BOOK AWARDS for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction 2022 CIBAs.  Currently shortlisted for the 2022 Chaucer historical novel awards - Gods of Men, Where the Spartans are Made is the first novel in the saga of narrative-non-fiction or factually inspired dramatic novels based on the life and times of Lysander of Sparta and the Peloponnesian War. Where the Spartans are Made covers Lysander's dramatic and violent childhood from birth through the harsh Spartan education system during the political turmoil between the Peloponnesians and the Athenian Empire (Delian League).   Disadvantage by his mixed blood status, come him one half Spartiate and one half Helot, Lysander, from a noble but impoverished family, knows that to succeed and flourish, he has to shine beyond his peers, for he came into the world upon favorable omens and the favor of the gods. He is a child with a great destiny ahead of him, and from the very beginning, he has the secret protection and benefaction of Tellis, one of the most powerful men in the Peloponnese and the father of Brasidas, who will one day become Lysander's Inspirer, teacher and friend.      Meanwhile, the long war with Athens (First Peloponnesian War 460–445 BC) rages on, and the Spartan army and their coalition partners are almost at the walls of Athens and victory is certain … until an Athenian emissary arrives at King Pleistoanax's camp with an offer from Pericles, supreme commander of the Delian forces. Pleistoanax takes a bribe and ends the war, with the treaty of the Thirty Years Peace. Pleistoanax, shamed by corruption is deposed and exiled, leaving Sparta, a dual monarchy, with just one king, the ageing Archidamos.      Now adolescent, Lysander becomes the Inspired of every kids favorite warrior, the charismatic Brasidas, "Tamer of Mortals", (a man with a destiny of his own) and a commander of a hundred of those most feared of the Spartans, the 300).      A deep bond between the youth and the elite warrior is quickly formed, a bond that will last until Brasidas's death (book #4 Gods of Men, "Amphipolis," coming in 2023). Lysander learns and masters the great mysteries of Aries like none before him.      As Lysander approaches adulthood, war once again looms between the Athenian Empire and the Spartan led Peloponnesian allies. Despite the great efforts of the Spartan King Archidamos, war becomes inevitable and it will shape Lysander as it will shape history...