Spartan quest

When slaves rebel in ancient Sparta, twelve-year-old Lysander, guarded by an heirloom amulet, the Fire of Ares, is caught between the Spartan ruling class, with whom he has been training as a warrior since his noble heritage was revealed, and those among whom he was recently laboring as a slave.

When Lysander and his barracks are sent to Taras, Italy, to protect a vital trading post threatened by a local uprising, he spies a statue of a figure wearing the Fire of Ares and sets out to discover his connection to the city, hoping to learn more of his mysterious heritage.