<DIV><DIV><DIV><DIV><B>Decadent, desperate sixth-century Athens is the setting for the fifth historical thriller featuring British adventurer Aelric</B></DIV><DIV> </DIV>It is 612 AD and Aelric—senator of the Roman Empire, fresh from a bloodbath in Egypt—is forced to divert the Imperial galley to Athens. He finds a demoralized and corrupt provincial city threatened by an army rumored to contain 20 million starving barbarians. Not to mention an explosive religious dispute, an unexplained corpse, and hints of something worse than murder. He will have to call upon all his formidable intellect and lethal ingenuity to survive his enemies inside and outside the city walls.</DIV></DIV></DIV>