Arimnestos is a peasant boy who dreams of becoming a bronzesmith like his father, but their peaceful life is shattered by Thebes and Sparta. Standing in the battle line for the first time, he tastes blood and unlikely victory. But wounded and knocked unconscious, he wakes not a hero - but a victim, betrayed and enslaved. Slavery forces him into the high culture of the Greek and Persian worlds, but the seductive spell of this new life is shattered when the Greeks revolt against the might of the Persian Empire, forcing him to choose between new love and old friends, thrusting him back into the battle haze. Arimnestos has a god-like talent that pays well in this violent world - one that will ultimately take him to the battlefield of Marathon and beyond. Like his hero, Achilles, he is a killer of men.