The Helvetian Affair

“Not lyrical, but accurate, Insubrecus. All these stories and reports of Romans, Belgae, Krauts, and whatnot have become a knot I do not have time to unravel, so I’m just going to slice it open!” Caesar announced. “Tomorrow at dawn, this army marches on the Aeduan capital. . .we march on Bibracte!” With these words, Gaius Iulius Caesar sent his army on what most of his officers considered a suicide mission with the Helvetians and their German allies across their line of retreat and the army trapped against the impregnable walls of Bibracte, the fortress-capital of their treacherous Gallic allies, the Aedui. “The Helvetian Affair” is the second book of the Gaius Marius Chronicle, the memoir of a retired Roman soldier, Gaius Marius Insubrecus, a legionary who fought with Caesar throughout his Gallic campaigns and the Roman civil wars. “The Helvetian Affair” recounts Insubrecus’ coming of age as a Roman soldier in the legionary camps outside the city of Aquileia, and serving his patron, Caesar, as he conducts a lightening campaign to prevent the fierce and ruthless attempt by the Helvetii to conquer Celtic Gaul and threaten the Roman province. The narrative recreates a colorful and culturally complex portrait of ancient northern Italy and the Rhone valley, as Romans, Celts and Germans struggle for supremacy in the hills and dark forests of western Gaul.

Author Biography

Ray Gleason first book, “A Grunt Speaks: A Devil’s Dictionary of Vietnam Infantry Terms”, uses the terminology of soldiers to reflect on his experience as rifleman and army ranger during three combat tours in Vietnam. Gleason became an advocate for the Vietnam-era generation in his novel, “The Violent Season. Gleason holds a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies and MA in English Literature from Northwestern University, and a BA in English and History from Hunter College. He teaches Medieval Literature at Northwestern and writing at Purdue.