Rome, 80AD. A gigantic new amphitheatre is being built. The Emperor has plans for gladiatorial Games on a scale no-one has ever seen before. But the Games don't just happen. They must be made. And Marcus, the man in charge of creating them, has just lost everything he held dear when Pompeii disappeared under the searing wrath of Vesuvius. Now it will fall to Althea, the slave woman who serves as his scribe, to ensure the Colosseum is inaugurated on time - and that Marcus makes his way out of the darkness that calls to him. First in the Colosseum series. Praise for Melissa Addey's previous novels: Reading this novel was a moving and wonderful excursion into a different time. Editor's Choice. Historical Novel Society Ms Addey excels at making ancient worlds come alive: her world-building is superb. Discovering Diamonds The Colosseum series They called it the Flavian Amphitheatre. We call it the Colosseum. It opened with one hundred days of Games: brutal gladiatorial combats, exotic wild animal hunts, naval battles and the re-enactment of extraordinary and dangerous mythological adventures. But no history book, anywhere, mentions the people who made it happen: the backstage team. The Colosseum series follows the lives of the backstage team as they serve an unpredictable Emperor, put on shows to please the masses and live out their lives in the shadowy underworld of the greatest amphitheatre ever built.