Ranks of Bronze (Earth Legions, #1)

Captured by aliens at the Carrhae disaster, the legendary legions of Rome are forced to battle barbarian armies throughout the galaxy until, after two thousand years, they set out to achieve their freedom from their captors. Reprint. The aliens were looking for a few good fighters, warriors who could be brave without blasters, and content with shields of bronze...

What they got were Romans...

Gaius Vibulenas: From a raw kid, he became an accomplished soldier—and a leader of men.

Quartilla: She was everything a man could want—you would never guess she wasn't human.

Pompilius Niger: He learned young that the worst dangers a soldier faces come from those who give him his orders.

Clodius Afer: A veteran, he didn't ask questions—until his alien masters forced the answers on him.

The aliens knew that in these primitives they possessed the finest low-tech soldiers in the galaxy. What they did not understand was the madness of enslaving a Roman legion and leaving them with swords in their hands.

They were Roman soldiers-- and they were still alive because there were no better killers in the galaxy. The Galactics need fighters who could win battles without the aid of technology. That's why, when Rome's legions suffered disaster at Carrhae, secretive alien traders were waiting to buy them on the Persian slave market. Now, virtually immortal, the Romans fight strange enemies on stranger worlds; and though they win every battle, the spoils of victory never include freedom. If the legionaries are ever to return to Earth, it must be through the beam weapons and force screens of their ruthless alien owners. But no matter the odds, two thousand years is a long time; the Romans are coming home Gaius Vibulenus wore a white horsehair crest to mark him as a tribune.