Reluctant Gods

The story beginsin the 22nd Century when a parallel universe is discovered. Thisuniverse is an exact duplicate of our own, except that its version of Earth isin pre-Christian times. The main character, Mark, is a shy, gentle, slightlybumbling student who becomes stranded on the other Earth in 73 BC with a few 22ndCentury gadgets to aid his survival. Although Mark has a gentle nature, he is faced with some extreme ethicaldilemmas when Spartacus' slave revolt against the Romans breaks out. He meets arunaway slave named Rani and they become lovers. Influenced by Rani, Mark uses his gadgets tomake ever more dramatic and deadly interventions in the slave revolt.