The Long Defeat

We know all too well the sorry history of the decline and fall of the "eternal" city of Rome. Sometimes we forget that Romans of the time did not "know" this final outcome. Some were complacent, some were connivers, some were downright corrupt, but none envisioned the abandonment of their western capitol by all the powers which Rome itself had fostered during its centuries of growth. None foresaw the complete collapse that marked the middle decades of the fifth century. Those caught in this tumultuous epoch only knew wars were continuous, victories seldom, and motivation to keep fighting very small. A few kept fighting. This is the story of one such man, a military commander whose achievements were recorded but whose personal life is so obscure that most historians simply damn him with faint praise. The biography necessarily is fiction, but the events- along with the fascinating array of characters who ran the Roman Empire - are historical. Read it with enjoyment. Consider it with foreboding. The fate of Rome was shared by many powers before its time, and has been experienced by many since.