480 BC. Arimnestos of Plataea has already lived through several
lifetimes' worth of adventure, from being a rich man's slave in Ephesus
to winning glory at the battle of Marathon against the might of the
Persian Empire. But the gods - and the Persians - aren't finished with
him yet. As an experienced sea captain - his enemies might say pirate -
he has a part to play in the final epic confrontation of the Long War
between the Greeks and Persians, the Battle of Salamis. It is a battle
where many debts of blood will be repaid, ancient grudges settled, fame
won and treachery exposed, where the Greeks must finally bury their
differences and fight as one - for against them Xerxes, the Great King,
has assembled the greatest fleet the world has ever known, his sworn
purpose to brutally extinguish the flame of freedom and make every Greek
his slave.