Sailing to Sarantium

Caius Crispus is a master mosaicist in the western city of Varena, withdrawn into his craft after plague killed his wife and daughters. When Emperor Valerius II summons an artisan to Sarantium to decorate the vast new sanctuary rising above the capital, Crispin is sent in place of his older colleague. His journey east carries him through ruined provinces, pagan remnants and dangerous encounters that reveal how thinly imperial order covers the older powers of the world.

Sarantium is a city of chariot factions, theological argument, court intrigue and spectacular wealth. Crispin’s skill brings him into the orbit of Valerius, Empress Alixana, the celebrated charioteer Scortius and the city’s rival political networks. As he prepares the design for the sanctuary’s dome, he becomes entangled in ambitions reaching from the Hippodrome to the lost western provinces. The novel reimagines sixth-century Byzantium through an artisan whose work gives him access to the centre of empire without making him immune to its dangers.