It is two years after Julian, the last pagan emperor of Rome, has died in the disaster of his Persian invasion and the east of Rome now is in chaos. A usurper has appeared to challenge the rule of the emperor Valens while all along the frontiers of the empire, the Persians and the Saraceni are rising up in war and revolt. For one lonely legion, marching south from Damascus to a transit camp, these events conspire to lead it out into the hostile deserts and ruins deep in the lands of the Saraceni. There, it must garrison an abandoned fort far from home; a fort riddled with betrayal and in whose shadow lies the awful legacy of a dead emperor. Follow the exploits of the men and officers of the Quinta Macedonica Legio as it makes a final stand far from empire and succour only to discover that the sands of the past run deep and no one is quite who he appe