The Helvetian Affair: Book II of the Gaius Marius Chronicle

"Not lyrical, but accurate, Insubrecus. All these stories and reports of Romans, Belgae, Krauts, and whatnot have become a knot I do not have time to unravel, so I'm just going to slice it open!" Caesar announced. "Tomorrow at dawn, this army marches on the Aeduan capital. . .we march on Bibracte!" With these words, Gaius Iulius Caesar sent his army on what most of his officers considered a suicide mission with the Helvetians and their German allies across their line of retreat and the army trapped against the impregnable walls of Bibracte, the fortress-capital of their treacherous Gallic allies, the Aedui.

The Helvetian Affair is the second book of the Gaius Marius Chronicle, the memoir of a retired Roman soldier, Gaius Marius Insubrecus, a legionary who fought with Caesar throughout his Gallic campaigns and the Roman civil wars.

The Helvetian Affair recounts Insubrecus' coming of age as a Roman soldier in the legionary camps outside the city of Aquileia, and serving his patron, Caesar, as he conducts a lightening campaign to prevent the fierce and ruthless attempt by the Helvetii to conquer Celtic Gaul and threaten the Roman province.

The narrative recreates a colorful and culturally complex portrait of ancient northern Italy and the Rhone valley, as Romans, Celts and Germans struggle for supremacy in the hills and dark forests of western Gaul.