The Realms of God--A Novel of the Roman Empire (The Shards of Heaven, Book 3)
Page 30
Laenas. Unknown to history.
Lucius Vorenus. Along with Titus Pullo, Vorenus is mentioned only once in the existing record: in Julius Caesar’s Commentary on the Gallic Wars, where their inspiring actions in battle are reported. His birth and death dates are unknown.
Mark Antony. A Roman politician, he was Julius Caesar’s good friend and perhaps his finest general. In the years following Caesar’s assassination, Antony struggled with Octavian for control of the Roman Republic, though an uneasy peace was reached in 41 BCE when Antony married Octavian’s sister. The following year he had an affair with Cleopatra VII, resulting in the births of the twins Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios, and soon he was making his home with her in Alexandria, where she gave birth to another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, in 36 BCE. Open war broke out between Antony and Octavian in 32, with their two great armies facing off at the Battle of Actium one year later. Defeated, Antony returned with Cleopatra to Alexandria, where he committed suicide after the fall of the city.
Octavian. Born in 63 BCE, he was adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar just prior to his assassination in 44. Though he originally joined forces with Mark Antony to rule the Republic, their ambitions would not allow the peace to last, and the war between them tore the Roman world in two. His eventual defeat of Antony made him sole ruler of Rome, giving him the power to remake the Republic into the Roman Empire. Known most popularly as Augustus Caesar, the name he adopted in 27 BCE, he is rightly regarded along with his adopted father as one of the most influential men in history.
Ptolemy Philadelphus. Born in 36 BCE, he was the youngest son of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. He disappears from the record after the fall of Alexandria in 30, his fate unknown.
Quintus. Unknown to history.
Syllaeus. One of the chief ministers to King Obodas II of Nabataea, Syllaeus volunteered to guide Egyptian prefect Aelius Gallus and his Roman legions to the spice-rich lands of Arabia Felix. He instead led them to death and despair in the desert, returning to Petra a hero. In 9 BCE Obodas died, and Syllaeus was soon accused of his murder. King Aretas IV put him in chains and sent him to Rome, where he was declared guilty and flung headfirst to his death from the Tarpeian Rock.
Syphax. Unknown to history, though it is reasonably certain in the records that an unnamed slave aided in the suicides of Juba I and Marcus Petreius.
Thrasyllus. An Egyptian scholar, Thrasyllus of Mendes became famous as the personal astrologer of Tiberius Caesar. A trusted servant and friend to the emperor, it is said that he saved the lives of many in Rome by promising Tiberius a longer life than he ultimately led.
Tiberius. Born in 42 BCE, Tiberius Claudius Nero became the stepson to Octavian, the future Augustus Caesar, when his mother was forced to divorce his father and marry the powerful adopted son of Julius Caesar. In time he became a strong field general, and he rose quickly through the ranks to the position of heir apparent to Augustus Caesar. He was unhappy, however, and for unknown reasons he retired to Rhodes in 6 BCE, only returning to Rome in AD 2—after much begging from Caesar. When Augustus died in 14, Tiberius was declared his sole heir and would rule—a reportedly depressed and dark figure—as Caesar until his own death in 37.
Titus Pullo. Along with Lucius Vorenus, Pullo is mentioned only once in the existing record: in Julius Caesar’s Commentary on the Gallic Wars, where their inspiring actions in battle are reported. His birth and death dates are unknown.
TOR BOOKS BY MICHAEL LIVINGSTON
The Shards of Heaven
The Gates of Hell
The Realms of God
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL LIVINGSTON holds degrees in history, medieval studies, and English. He is an associate professor of English at The Citadel, specializing in the Middle Ages. His short fiction has been published in Blank Gate, Shimmer, Paradox, and Nature. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
Maps
Epigraph
Prologue: The Colossus of Rhodes
PART I: THE STONES OF MEMORY
1. The Rose-Red City
2. The Fall of a Scholar
3. Water from the Rock
4. The Boat from Rome
5. A Mother’s Love
6. The Mount of Aaron
7. The King and the Demon
8. The Road to Jerusalem
9. The Blood-Red Moon
10. The Mount of Abraham
PART II: THE YEAR OF FOUR MESSIAHS
11. Secrets Untold
12. The Mount of Moses
13. The Holy Temple
14. The Holy of Holies
15. The Sixth Shard
16. New Powers
17. The First Attack
18. The Garden of Gethsemane
19. No Choices
20. Daughter of Pharaohs
PART III: THE GATE OF HEAVEN
21. Gabriel’s Revelation
22. Death of a Messiah
23. The Voice of a Friend
24. The Shards Gathered
25. Up in Flames
26. The Second Gate
27. A Leap of Faith
28. Death and Life
29. A Good Day to Die
30. Midnight on the Mount of God
Epilogue: A Book of Life and Death
Glossary of Characters
Tor Books by Michael Livingston
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE REALMS OF GOD
Copyright © 2017 by Michael Livingston
All rights reserved.
Cover photograph by Larry Rostant
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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ISBN 978-0-7653-8035-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7333-9 (ebook)
eISBN 9781466873339
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First Edition: November 2017