Publisher's Synopsis
Lysander of Sparta, now a young warrior, longs for command and the much anticipated war with the Athenian Empire to earn his place through the tests of war and become the warrior he was born to be. He dies not have to wait for long...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 did 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 prepared its invasion of Attica, Brasidas is sent with 300 hoplites to Messene, to put down any signs of helot rebellion and to patrol the coast. Lysander, now an elite of the Spartan hippeis (Dioskouri) is also dispatched to Messene on a separate mission. To take command of a small militia at the city of Methone, in defence 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 hoplites 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, the shadow of Death passes over Athens with the outbreak of plague, plunging the city into a disturbing and surreal world of madness and death...
