Die by the Blade

By: James Mace

Narrated by: Jonathan Waters

Thus Valour and Skill Have Their Reward

The year is 77 AD. On the frontier of the Roman Empire, a Dacian man named Verus is captured and enslaved during an imperial raid north of the Danube. He is sent to a rock quarry known as The Pit, as one among thousands of fresh slaves needed to mine marble for Emperor Vespasian's new amphitheater. Funded by spoils taken during the Siege of Jerusalem, the Emperor promises it will be the largest gladiatorial arena ever; his personal gift to the people of Rome. Requiring years of herculean labor and millions of cubic feet in stone, Vespasian's son, Titus, worries whether his father will live to see its completion.

After months of back-breaking suffering and toil, Verus is taken from The Pit to become a gladiator. Whether by chance or fate, he knows that only by making a pact with death will he have a chance at life. In a savage world of blood, sweat, sand, and steel, his very soul is forged, until he no longer remembers the man he once was. As the Flavian Amphitheatre nears completion, with the possibility of fighting before the Emperor himself, Verus swears to either win his cherished freedom, or ignominiously die by the blade.

©2017 James Mace (P)2018 James Mace

Second attempt to review this fine audiobook

I really am interested in this time period of history. I am fully aware that most history books are written by the winners. But the fiction about this time period is written from all sides. I believe I am still living under a Caesar now. With the wealth accumulated would have spent to wipe out the death by famine of Roman citizens. There would have been no need for the arena. Anyway, I highly recommend this book . Now for the obligatory: "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Very cool story!

This is a very well written author's insight into the mind of a gladiator during the time of an ancient Roman monarchy. The narration is impeccable.

EXCELLENT historical fiction based on fact

Classic, exciting gladiator story by James Mace of Verus and Priscus, two real gladiators who fought on the opening day of the 100 days of games in 81 AD, and whose incredible battle was memorialized by the writer Marcus Valerius.
This fabulous book covers a bit of history of the reign of Nero, the building of the amphitheatre,
the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the siege of Jerusalem, the Roman conquerers, and fills in the blanks I had about where the labor and marble came from. Having toured the amphitheatre in Rome at the time the pandemic struck in March of 2020, this story was so real to me. The amphitheater itself is a breathtaking beast and this book really brings it to life.
Jonathan Waters is a WONDERFUL narrator, a true voice acting professional. His performance made this book one I couldn't put down. I was laying in bed at 2 a.m. listening to it because I couldn't shut it off.
I was provided this amazing book in exchange for an honest review.

Great story and action

having read another of Jame's books I was looking forward to listen to this one and I wasn't disappointed. The story of the main character was interesting,whilst the action quick and intense. The narration is done well with distinctive voices for the different characters. I really enjoy historic fiction such as this and I look forward to reading/listening to more of Jame's books in the future.


Please note that I was provided with a copy of this audiobook to provide a non-biased review.

A Little Slower than I had hoped

While I appreciate all of the research that was done for this book, I rather felt that it bogged the story down a bit.

Jonathan Waters does an admirable job and was quite impressed with how well he handled the ancient Roman name.

I didn't love it...but didn't hate it either.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

An enjoyable gladiatorial romp

I'm quite the fan of historical fiction, I love how it can breathe life and perspective into great characters and events that we know of, but will never really know. But that's not all historical fiction can do. An author such as James Mace can take an obscure and mostly irrelevant piece of history, and create an enjoyable tale with characters and events that are mostly lost in the sands of the time.

Mace tells the tale of Verus, a Dacian blacksmith who in 77 AD takes up arms to help his people fend off the advance of the Roman army into his territory. Fine warriors though the Dacians may have been, they were no match for the Roman army, a fighting force with hundreds of years of experience. Verus is first sent to a marble quarry, but after spending time there, he gets sent to become a gladiator, a slight improvement on his current state of affairs.

The bulk of the story tells of Verus' trials as a gladiator, and also his friend Prisus (audiobooks don't help with spelling), a Pict (never read a book with a Pict before, as far as I remember) who is the combatant all combatants want to be. Prisus is a likeable character. He's not the killer we expect from gladiator stories, and for the three years of the book, he mourns that he may never see his family again. Prisus on the other hand is a killer, but he's the kind of likeable hardass counterpoint to our hero. The Romans are suitably ghastly, but they add colour to the story when in there, as opposed boo-hiss panto villains. The historical facts and the knowledge of gladiatorial history rings true, although I'm no expert on this matter. The story never goes quite as you'd expect, which is great, and the combat scenes are nicely done. 

The narrator does a good job, adding distinct voices to characters, while moving the pace effectively.

4-4.5/5 stars - looks like I"ll have to add James Mace to my ever growing list of must-read Historical Fiction authors. 

Engaging historical fiction

This is a good story. I might have wished for a bit more character development and description of life in Rome at the time. I do wonder about the accuracy of some of the aspects of this story, though.

Jonathan Waters delivers a very competent performance. He makes a reasonable effort at giving distinctive voices to the characters. I'm satisfied with his narration and the story.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Cool Gladiator story

I feel like we don't have a lot of these types of stories. After watching Spartacus and finishing I've never been able to scratch tat itch. I train in mma as well which is somewhat like a modern gladiator. So you know the premise of a gladiators would interest me. I did enjoy the story more than I expect other people to do, so keep in mind if gladiator type stories are not your thing.

I highly recommend this for people who are really in to this type of story.

Most entertaining story from Mace so far!

There were elements of this story I predicted early on, and at least one big surprise later. Either way, this was one of James Maces’ most entertaining stories to date, and I’ve listened to almost all of his novels.

Confusing cast of characters but great performance

Great performance by Jonathan Waters. I struggled to follow the characters. Much like Game Of Thrones many of the names started to run together. One character even IS the same name as a GOT one. Overall a good book with well rounded plot lines.

I was provided this book complimentary in exchange for an honest review