Includes bibliographical references.

Two men: one is charged to save Rome; one is determined to destroy it...Sebastos Pantera is newly returned from five years' undercover work in Britannia. Sick of spying, he plans to retire into peaceful anonymity far from the schemes of his Emperor. But no sooner has he set foot in Gaul than he is met by his former spymaster Seneca who begs him to undertake one final mission. An oracle has said that Rome must burn in order to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. Rebels are already in the city, determined to make it happen. Only Pantera has the skills to stop them. Pantera soon finds that the main trouble maker is none other than his former close friend and former brother-in-arms, Saulos. A recent convert to the new religion of Christianity, Saulos is planning the biggest single act of terrorism the Roman empire has known.