This novel takes place in the 6th century roman empire where the empire tries to recover the lost western provinces from the goths but the myth that a "byzantine" empire emerged in the east must be PUT TO AN END.There was no "byzantine" empire to begin with. There was only one empire and it's name is ROMAN. Period.I don't know why they changed the name in the east modern historians but what i know is that the "byzantines" were called romans. their capital was new rome and they never used the term "byzantine" which was discovered in 1562 by charles de cange a foolish western historian 100 years after the final fall of the eastern empire to the ottomans to describe the history of that section of the empire.This is a great fiction novel but be aware. Byzantines and romans ARE THE SAME PEOPLE.