In which our hero and his father acquire the company of three louts, a lesson is conferred, and weapons are bandied about.

In which our hero and his father acquire the company of three louts, a lesson is conferred, and weapons are bandied about.

If Carthage had won the Second Punic War, would it have treated the Romans to the same burned buildings and genocide it received? Or would a different empire have arisen from the culture that invented the alphabet, advanced mathematics, and ruled the oceans?

240 years later, a more benevolent and intelligent civilization burgeons into an industrial society encompassing Europe and half of Africa. But it also brings a different set of faults and failings.

Among the oligarchic empire of Qart Hadasht is Rock al’Gadriel, the son of a senator, who struggles to prove himself in a society that glorifies title before achievement. That all changes when he receives his first military assignment. But is it a punishment, or a proving ground?

If Carthage had won the Second Punic War, would it have treated the Romans to the same burned buildings and genocide it received? Or would a different empire have arisen from the culture that invented the alphabet, advanced mathematics, and ruled the oceans?

240 years later, a more benevolent and intelligent civilization burgeons into an industrial society encompassing Europe and half of Africa. But it also brings a different set of faults and failings.

Among the oligarchic empire of Qart Hadasht is Rock al’Gadriel, the son of a senator, who struggles to prove himself in a society that glorifies title before achievement. That all changes when he receives his first military assignment. But is it a punishment, or a proving ground?

If Carthage had won the Second Punic War, would it have treated the Romans to the same burned buildings and genocide it received? Or would a different empire have arisen from the culture that invented the alphabet, advanced mathematics, and ruled the oceans?

240 years later, a more benevolent and intelligent civilization burgeons into an industrial society encompassing Europe and half of Africa. But it also brings a different set of faults and failings.

Among the oligarchic empire of Qart Hadasht is Rock al’Gadriel, the son of a senator, who struggles to prove himself in a society that glorifies title before achievement. That all changes when he receives his first military assignment. But is it a punishment, or a proving ground?