Matilde’s General
Coming September 2, 2024!
It is the late 4th century, and the Roman Empire groans under the repeated blows of civil war and barbarian invasion. The Visigoths, faced with annihilation by Roman legions, surrender a girl to the Romans as a hostage, as surety for her tribe’s good conduct. Young Matilde will live in Constantinople for years and flourish in the home of a senior army officer.
She befriends Empress Aelia Eudoxia and grows up in the high society of the imperial court. From there, she has an opportunity to help her tribe, who dream of a new home where they can live in peace and prosperity. But the court is a treacherous place of backstabbing and intrigue.
When she and her lover have an opportunity to seize power and advance their cause, will they take it?
Robert S. Phillips has based Matilde’s General on the historical writings of Orosius and other historians of Roman antiquity. Book Three of the Visigoth Saga: Matilde’s Empress, will follow.
Inspiration
So little historical fiction has been written around the Visigoth’s 25-year migration from the banks of the Danube through the Balkans, Italy, and Gaul until they finally settled in Aquitaine (395-420 CE) and of their failed attempts to join the Roman Empire as loyal citizens and subjects.
From the failed coup of General Gainas to the sacking of Rome in 410, we know little about the people involved, which makes the theme beg to have a story woven around it.