Promo: The Walls of Rome by Robert M. Kidd

June 04, 2025

Promo: The Walls of Rome by Robert M. Kidd

Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Robert M. Kidd to Ruins & Reading. We're celebrating the 5th publication anniversary of his riveting historical adventure, The Walls of Rome.

I remember endless lessons in Latin, translating Hannibal's journey across the Alps – with elephants! So this novel should make for fantastic reading. Check out the excerpt below!

The Walls of Rome is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find links to more enticing excerpts HERE!

*5th Publication Anniversary Tour*

The Walls of Rome

The Histories of Sphax Series, Book #1

Robert M. Kidd

Excerpt:

Context:

Sphax first encounters Idwal on the battlefield beside the Rhodanus after the routing of the Volcae tribe. They will soon become good friends.

Extract:

‘Well, Sphax, as you see,’ and the chief half turned, gesturing theatrically towards the ranks of shields that had so far held firm, ‘my little army remains undefeated, and my warriors have not been scattered to the winds.’ The chief was half a head taller than him, with pale blue eyes and a fair complexion that reminded him of Fionn. ‘Why should I trust your words? Especially when you have broken the alliance my father made with your uncle.’

Sphax flushed. ‘That is a lie, Volca! Hannibal made no such agreement with your people.’ To Sphax’s astonishment, the chief coolly smiled at him.

‘But I am not Volcae, horseman. Though, like all Gauls, they are my cousins. I am Idwal, son of Cenno, Lord of the Cavari. Three weeks ago my father made an agreement with Hannibal to allow your army safe passage through our lands. I seem to remember your uncle paying my father generously in silver.’ In a flash Idwal’s smile disappeared. ‘Tell me, horseman, why should I now trust the word of any Carthaginian?’

For some moments Sphax had been so taken aback and confused by these revelations that he just stared. But he quickly regained his wits. ‘By the same token, Gaul, you have also broken this agreement by fighting alongside the Volcae. You can hardly blame us for our inability to distinguish a Volcae blade from a Cavari spear. As for trusting my word: in the past I too have regretted Carthaginian promises, but I am not a Carthaginian, I’m a Numidian. And as you will see if you lay down your weapons, Numidians are to be trusted. We keep our word.’ Sphax had an amusing thought. ‘There is of course a simple solution to our present dilemma. If you repay me the silver my uncle paid you, we can then kill you with a clear conscience!’

~~~

Blurb:

‘not only have we scaled the mighty Alps, I believe

we have climbed the very walls of Rome’
~ Hannibal

218 BC. Sphax is seventeen and haunted by the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of Rome. After ten years of miserable slavery he will make his last bid for freedom and go in search of Hannibal’s army and his birthright. He will have his revenge on the stinking cesspit that is Rome!

Destiny will see him taken under the wing of Maharbal, Hannibal’s brilliant general, and groomed to lead the finest horsemen in the world – the feared

Numidian cavalry that would become the scourge of Rome.

From the crossing of the great Rhodanus River, Sphax’s epic journey takes him through the lands of the Gaul to the highest pass in the Alps. This is the story of the most famous march in history. A march against impossible odds, against savage mountain Gauls, a brutal winter and Sphax’s own demons.

This is more than a struggle for empire. This is the last great war to save the beauty of the old world, the civilized world of Carthage, Greece and Gaul. The world of art and philosophy – before it is ground into dust by the upstart barbarity of Rome.

Buy Link: Universal Buy Link

This series is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

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About the Author:

When Cato the Censor demanded that ‘Carthage must be destroyed,’ Rome did just that. In 146 BC, after a three-year siege, Carthage was razed to the ground, its surviving citizens sold into slavery and the fields where this once magnificent city had stood, ploughed by oxen. Carthage was erased from history.

That’s why Robert is a novelist on a mission! He wants to set the historical record straight. Our entire history of Hannibal’s wars with Rome is nothing short of propaganda, written by Greeks and Romans for their Roman clients. It intrigues him that Hannibal took two Greek scholars and historians with him on campaign, yet their histories of Rome’s deadliest war have never seen the light of day.

The hero of The Histories of Sphax series tells a different story!