When tom, a graphic designer and artist in semi-retirement, takes his metal detector to the site of a roman villa on the river tas near norwich, he unearths more than a slice of history. gold coins, jewels, silverware and precious artefacts from antiquity start to fill his life and the cottage he shares with his new love, helen. a working trip to rome takes tom to the vatican in the exalted company of a russian archaeologist, professor borodin. can the professor and a mysterious russian cardinal help tom unlock the secrets of maximus afranius, a fabulously wealthy roman commander who settled in britannia on the river tas? fascinating glimpses into roman and medieval life, and a deep awareness of archaeology and genealogy, plus a keen ear for the echoes of the past, give peter mortimer's saga of lost treasures a vivid and colourful realism. this is a big read with a big theme. leave no page unturned!