In 380 AD, Theodosius the Great signed the edict of Thessalonica, outlawing all religions except Catholocism.
How did the once-tolerant Roman empire come to this?
Book 1—Heralds of the Fall—sees the key players take their places in a story full of history, philosophy, and action.
Theodosius is still a humble soldier. The fierce barbarian Alaric of the Visigoths (who will one day sack Rome) is a child–and Theodosius’s captive. And the formidable governor Ambrose of Milan is closing his fist on the last vestiges of religious freedom in the empire.
374 C.E.
Christian sects battle for power at the heart of the Roman Empire.
Governor Ambrose of Mediolanum must calm the religious riots in his city, made worse by a terrible famine. Despite suffering from a debilitating chronic illness, Ambrose uncovers a high-level conspiracy to stir up violence. He may be clever enough to outwit the conspirators, but creating peace is difficult when a battle also rages in his own heart: Ambrose’s loyalty to God wars with his love for his pagan friends–including a beautiful philosophical widow. When the chance for peace comes, it will demand a sacrifice of everything Ambrose holds dear.
On the other side of the empire, General Theodosius defends Rome’s borders against invading Visigothic tribes. Theodosius has won many battles, but the crafty leader of the Visigoths tests his strength, wit, and courage.
Theodosius’s wife, a prophetess, foretells victory (and a glorious future for him in the highest office of the empire). But if his new slave–the nine-year-old Visigothic prince Alaric–has anything to say about it, Theodosius won’t live to see that future.
*
CHARACTERS
Governor of the new capital of Rome, Ambrose of Milan is desperate to prevent bloodshed between vying sects of Christians in his city . . . yet determined to see his own sect in power.
One of Rome’s most competent generals against the Visigoths, Theodosius’s past success may prove his undoing when he’s ordered to battle the fiercest of the barbarian leaders.
A shining pillar of Roman virtue and pagan ideals, Leonia struggles to uphold tradition, philosophy, and the arts in a changing world that, increasingly, has no room for them.
9-year-old Alaric of the Balthi family is as close to a prince as the Visigothic race has. That won’t help him when he’s captured and made a slave to Theodosius, forced to serve his worst enemies.
*
The Age of the Fall is a result of my lifetime’s study of the fall of the Roman Empire, the years 370 to 410 c.e.
I started studying the era as research for a different book.
But things spiral, don’t they?
Here I am, still neck deep in the age of the fall.