Callistus of Rome

The great Marcus Aurelius is dead, and now the Roman Empire buckles under the yoke of Commodus his cruel and capricious son. As trust in the old gods wanes, exotic faiths compete for devotees while the evolving Christian Church is plagued by rivalries which threaten to tear it apart.

Two of Rome’s Christians face crises of their own.

Callistus, the banker’s enslaved apprentice, cheated by a client and abandoned by his closest friend, finds himself running for his life.

Marcia the emperor’s concubine, fearing for her own survival as well as the Empire’s, resolves to take the law into her own hands.

Meanwhile on the Empire’s eastern frontier a princess is growing up in an ancient kingdom long since swallowed up by Rome. But she and the women of her house are destined to wield more power than even their proudest ancestors could have dreamed of.

Between them, Callistus, Marcia and Mamaea will change the history of Rome and its Church for ever.