The first volume in The Last Roman trilogy, set in the final years of the Roman Empire Sixth-century Byzantium: Corruption is rife and the empire is in turmoil when Flavius Belisarius is expected to join his father's cohort to help protect the border of the Eastern Roman Empire. Flavius's father, Decimus, is the governor of Dorostorum city and has two goals: to keep out the Sklaveni barbarians across the Danube and to expose the deep roots of corruption. Seeking to prevent a barbarian raid, Decimus asks the powerful magnate Senuthius Vicinus for help. But when treachery leads to death in the Belisarius family, Decimus's reputation is damaged. With his life changed forever, Flavius swears vengeance on the man who betrayed his father and begins a journey from which there is no way back.