Scarrow presents a very realistic portrayal of a recruit's life in the Roman army through the character of Cato. The level of detail with which Cato's path to becoming a fully fledged soldier is described is impressive. So impressive that at times I believed Scarrow was a soldier himself.

I did feel, tough, that Cato's development into an optio was rushed. I expected more interaction between Cato and the other recruits, proving himself their leader through both actions and words.