The story of the novel begins in March of CE 380, nearly 20 years after the death of Julian. It starts as the text of a series of letters between Libanius and Priscus of Epirus, two confidants of Julian. In their various letters they discuss their lives and in particular the recent events involving an imperial edict of Theodosius involving the Nicene Creed of Christianity. In his first letter to Priscus, Libanius proposes to write a biography of Julian. Eventually Priscus agrees to send a manuscript written by Julian himself to Libanius along with his own comments written in the margins.