Ship of Rome

In this historically accurate debut, Stack vividly recreates the Roman Republic and its first attempts at a Roman navy. Capt. Atticus Perennis is a Roman of Greek ancestry and master of the trireme Aquila. Septimus Capito is one of the first marine Centurions. The two brothers-in-arms must confront both the vagaries of the Senate, with its backstabbing, self-aggrandizing politics, and the difficulties of developing the concept of naval warfare. Characteriza-tion tends to take a backseat to the abundant historical data, as Stack fills his stirring story brimming with the minutiae of Roman military life circa 200 B.C. and the strategic details of conducting battles at sea from slave-powered galleys, but fans of historical naval fiction will be thrilled by this exploration of an oft-ignored era. (July)