A civilisation confronted by forces it cannot control. Could the Roman empire, built over a thousand years, be swept from history?..... It was unthinkable, yet its greatest challenge was about to begin. This is a story from the twilight years of Imperial rule. The future of the Mediterranean world would be settled. Who would be victorious? Who would survive? A young Gothic warrior, a Roman noblewoman and her Legionary Commander brother are thrown together, by the storm of events that threatens everything they held dear. The first book of the twilight of Rome trilogy offers a glimpse of those desperate times. When the old certainties were lost, a new era dawned and the struggle to survive, would be too much for some.