As Boris Raymond’s historical novel The Phoenix Circle opens, the Roman Empire is rumbling towards its demise. Barbarians are crashing through the frontiers, greed and mismanagement of government are more the rule than not, and the church has become a political entity powerful enough to vie for control. Amidst the chaos, a small group of patriots called the Phoenix Circle emerges, its purpose to restore Rome to the full glory that she once was.Beginning with the year AD 448 and ending with 476, the author takes up many threads of Rome’s later history: Attila the Hun’s quest for European dominance; the ambitions of Orestes who became the father of the last emperor Romulus; the decadence of the Roman royal courts; the quickly growing power of the Church; and most importantly, the secret society of the Phoenix Circle begun by Cassiodorus, the head of the Imperial Secret Service and Honoria Augusta, the emperor Valentinian’s sister. Through intelligent storytelling, Dr. Raymond intricately weaves the threads of history together, giving the reader a clear, sweeping and engaging view of the age. The Phoenix Circle successfully captures the dynamics that caused the fall of Rome.
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