The novel takes the shape of the written memories of Tongius, great priest of the god Endovelicus in the cities of Arcobriga and Meribriga, whose life comes to its end. Raised in 164 BC in the merchant tribe of the Cynetes, Tongius was the son of Tongetamus, a disgraced Lusitanian-Gallecian warrior, and during his very adolescence he found himself embracing his warrior heritage against the arrogance of Rome. After a tenure in the marauding army of Curius and Apuleius, he joins the then-unknown Viriathus in the birth of a true rebellion, the Lusitanian Wars, becoming in the process part of a legend that still sounds in the lands of Portugal and Spain.
The book is possibly more known by his 1993 edition in Spain, where it was published under the title Viriato, Iberia contra Roma ("Viriathus, Iberia vs. Rome").
It has a sequel of sorts in the form of Aguiar's 1994 novel A hora de Sertório, whose events are directly connected to its epilogue.
The novel provides the examples of:
- Action Girl: Lusitanian and Gallaeci women are said to fight just like men. Truth in Television, by the way.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: This is commented by Camalus when Camala becomes obssessed with nursing the half-dead Tongetamus back to health, reasoning he can only be a bandit or some other lowlife. The reality, however, is closer to Florence Nightingale Effect.
- Artistic License – History:
- Historical sources don't detail the kind of place the Lusitanians were trapped in during the battle of Tribola, but analysts have traditionally considered it an orographic point, not an abandoned city as in the novel. Besieging fortified positions was a specialty of Roman military, so a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits huddled in a ruined fort would have had basically no chance to march out and build a full-fledged formation under their very noses. The novel justifies it by having the legions grabbing the Idiot Ball firmly and only camping around the city without actually mounting a siege. Strangely, though, Viriathus later notes that Romans are too good besieging cities and uses this as a reason not to remain on Itucci, which becomes a Plot Point when put next to the previous.
- At the end of the memories, Tongius claims he went to Italy and became a Roman citizen as a point of irony. He doesn't specify exactly how, which would have been interesting to hear, as at the time and place it would have been virtually impossible for him to do so. Being a citizen of the Hispania Ulterior province, he would have been classified as nothing more than a provincial, and given that the story is set way before the foundation of the Augustean auxilia (which would have required him to have a military career to gain citizenship) and the Edict of Caracalla (which turned all the imperial subjects into Roman citizens), this would have been the end of the road for him.
- In this continuity, Gaius Nigidius replaces the praetor Plautius in Hispania Citerior at the same time Aemilianus replaces Unimanus in Hispania Ulterior, and he's replaced himself at the next year by Gaius Laelius Sapiens, while Aemilianus remains an extra year as a proconsul. This is a difficult topic, as Laelius is considered a two-year propraetor as well who came to replace Plautius. In historiography, Nigidius is a bit of a problem; he's only randomly mentioned by chronicler Aurelius Victor and doesn't fit easily in the timeline pictured by the rest of ancient sources, and there's a lot of speculation about when, where and how did he deploy in Hispania.
- The book also gives Quintus Pompeius as the praetor of Ulterior at the same time Quinctius is of Citerior, but chroniclers imply Quinctius was the praetor of Ulterior, not Citerior, as he had his base in Corduba (Ulterior's capital, while Citerior's was Tarraco). Pompeius is another problem in historiography, as it's believed that Quinctius and him are the same person, and that the only chronicler that mentions him at that point, Appian, messed up the sources (due likely to the similarity between Quintus and Quintius). That year, the praetor of Citerior was the Consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, which in the novel, by the way, never goes to Hispania; for some reason, his brother Lucius does instead.
- Lucius Caecillius Metellus is said to retreat to his headquarters in Corduba, but as mentioned above, his headquarters should have been in Tarraco. In general, Tarraco is never even mentioned in the novel, and it's instead made it look like Corduba is the sole Roman base in Hispania.
- Gadir is described to have the same collective council of elders as any other city in Hispania. In real life, as a Phoenician colony, Gadir was known to be governed by two shophets chosen from a council of oligarchs. It's possible that they had already abandoned the Phoenician system under Roman influence at the time the novel is set (although not necessarily so - Sardinia, a Punicized territory passed to the Romans much earlier, had the shophet system until at least 40 BC), but it strikes as odd that nothing of this is mentioned given all the importance Camalus' family gives to their Tyrian roots.
- Only the classical aquila is mentioned as a Roman standard, probably because it is the most known in pop culture. If it became so popular, however, it is probably because Gaius Marius made it the only Roman standard, as previously there were five kinds of animal standards among which the eagle was just one (the rest, if you are curiious were wolf, ox-man, horse and boar). As this novel is set before the Marian reforms, the emphasis given to the eagle sign feels a bit anachronistic.
- The novel has the Romans using arrows, which at that point they didn't use. It could be assumed that the text is referencing Cretan mercenary archers that Tongius simply cannot tell apart from the rest of the Roman soldiers, but there are just just too many archers described within the legions to be comfortably the case, as Greek mercenaries used to be few and to be placed with the light infantry.
- The Roman fortifications are mentioned to be dug by slaves and auxiliars, which is inaccurate. At the time and place, all the soldiers and members of the armies, minus the commanders, worked in the fortifications. This was, by the way, what made Roman military camps so effective, as they were able to plant and build one in almost no time thanks to the large manpower.
- The exploits of Caucenus are mentioned, as news of Conistorgis being taken by them reach the island of Gadir. However, it seems he never undertook his famous sea expedition to Africa here, as there's no mention of his troops becoming seaborne, and given that Gadir in the story was in watch for any possible attack, it would have been quite a topic of conversation among them that the enemy had suddenly got the capacity to attack their island.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Crissus is dying because of a arrow lodged in the belly, so they pull it out in order to make the death faster and less painful, and the man dies instantly and peacefully. In real life, he would have certainly died quicker, but it would have been by a comparatively slower, messier exsanguination, possibly internal too.
- Artistic License – Religion: Statues of gods are virtually everywhere in the novel, with Tongoenabiagus, Endovelicus and Ataegina having their own distinctive idols. In real life, Hispanic gods were aniconic, meaning that their worshippers made no artwork of them, the only exceptions being when and where Carthaginian or Roman influence led them to adopt their style of religious art. Case on point: the author seems to have based the Bracari statue of Tongoenabiagus on the real life equivalent from Fonte do Ídolo in Braga, but this piece was built actually much later, in the time of Augustus, when Hispania had been fully conquered and there was a mixing of native and Roman religion happening around (in fact, the statue itself has inscriptions in Latin).
- Battle Couple: Again, Curius and Apuleius, although they are discreet about it and don't fight literally together in the frontlines as it is often expected. They later break up and marry women, though.
- Bittersweet Ending: Viriathus is dead and his army is submitted, though Scipio fulfills his promise and gives them peace and land. Tongius himself suffers somewhat of an existencial crisis, but he eventually does well in life, becoming a Roman citizen and the next priest of Endovelicus.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The Spanish translation mistook the Portuguese cognomen form "Cepião" (Caepio) with "Cipião" (Scipio), with the result that Quintus Servilius Caepio becomes a Quintus Servilius Scipio.
- Children Are Innocent: Sunua, a 12 years old girl to whom the then-slightly older Tongius is attracted to due to her innocence. She apparently doesn't know how children are conceived, claiming to be pregnant after making out. However, she turns out to be not as innocent as she looked, and even a bit of Clingy Jealous Girl, so it can be interpreted that she knows perfectly the process, but believes Tongius doesn't and is trying to tie him to her by The Baby Trap until being pregnant for real.
- Cool Old Guy: Eunois, the Greek merchant from Gadir, does nothing but helping Tongius from the point is introduced.
- Cunning Linguist: Tongius speaks multiple languages used in Hispania, including but not limited to Latin, Lusitanian and Celtic.
- Dirty Kid: 7-year-old Tongius finds out he likes it when a girl his age gropes him in the groin, and soon seeks it out.
- Heroic Lineage: From the Lusitanian point of view, Viriathus belongs to one, as it's mentioned his grand-grandfather was a mercenary in Hannibal Barca's army and died in Italy.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Some of the nastiest points of Viriathus' career are changed so he has no fault on them. The novel's version of Astolpas, for instance, commits suicide in a Heroic Sacrifice, thus avoiding the ugly situation of Viriathus executing his own father-in-law as it is mentioned in sources.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Although it's never pointed out, it's notable that Viriathus preaches his men not to kill surrendered enemies after the battle of Tribola - and then, upon learning there is a Celtiberian army going against them, he orders them not to leave a single enemy alive.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Bedunus, Tongius' master of arms, dies at the beginning of the story just when the boy is found by Viriathus.
- Noodle Incident: Viriathus apparently has some story together with Crovia, the sexual priestess, although it doesn't seem to be the most likely way if we consider Tautalus' claim that Viriathus has always been a total one-woman man.
- Politically Correct History: To a point, as both Tongius and Viriathus, the two main human points of the novel, are explicitly against raping women, not even female prisoners of war, which at the time would have been intriguing at the most. Downplayed on the topic of slavery, as no character finds it an unpleasant concept, but still, Viriathus only allows his men to capture female slaves as long as they were already slaves when they found them.
- Shown Their Work: Even despite the licenses mentioned above, novel is quite well researched, and is still possibly the single most faithful portrayal of the Lusitanian Wars in Spanish and Portuguese fiction. For starters, it miraculously avoids the cliché of portraying the Lusitanians with falcatas, which is comparable to the Every Japanese Sword is a Katana trope in those countries.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Camala and Tongetamus hook up, but being two people of very different positions, personalities, cultures, mindset and generally everything else, as well as two rather messed up people, the marriage doesn't last (and Tongetamus ends up taking his own life).
- Your Son All Along: Tongius realizes that Lobessa's son Aminius is his own son, though they agree (reluctantly on his side) not to reveal it in order to avoid her current husband to repudiate her.
