Pirata Books in Order

Pirata shifts the focus from legions and forts to the wild seas of the early Roman Empire. Set around AD 25, the series follows Telemachus, a young Greek who escapes the slums of Piraeus by signing on to a merchant ship – and sails straight into disaster.

When the ship Selene is attacked by pirates under the fearsome captain Bulla, Telemachus survives only by agreeing to join the raiders. The novellas The Black Flag and The Gates of Stone chart his brutal initiation into the brotherhood, the rivalries aboard ship and his first taste of real power at sea.

In Hunters of the Sea and Sea of Blood, Telemachus rises to command a small vessel of his own. Success brings new dangers: lean pickings on the trade routes, mutinous crews and the constant threat of Roman naval patrols. All the while he nurses a private goal – earning enough plunder to buy his enslaved brother’s freedom.

The Pirate Chief brings the pirate captains together under Telemachus’s banner for a high‑risk strike at Rome’s fleet. Prefect Canis, commander of the Ravenna squadrons, is equally determined to crush the pirates once and for all.

The full‑length novel Pirata retells and expands this arc, following Telemachus from frightened deckhand to a leader whose decisions shape the balance of power in the Adriatic. The books share some ground with the Eagles of the Empire series – the pirate Telemachus first appears there – but are told firmly from the outlaw side.

For readers who enjoy sea battles, boarding actions and the scrappy communities that grow up on the margins of empire, Pirata offers a fast, salty companion to the land campaigns of Macro and Cato.