page Drake provides a clue of it to sharp-eyed readers. For herself, Calvus cared little about the Roman Empire and how long it would last—but she knew that to Aulus the future of the Empire was of paramount importance and that he would fight better when given such an incentive; also, contrary to her training and conditioning, she had come to care very much for Aulus and seek to make him happy... Religion Aulus Perennius is a staunch devotee of the Sun god, whose worship flourished in the third century Roman Empire, and calls upon this god at moments of crisis ("Unconquered Sun, Creator and Sustainer of life, give me now the strength I need!"). He does not believe in the gods of the traditional Greek-Roman Pantheon, though he respects the goddess Roma as a manifestation of the Empire to whose service he is devoted. Perennius does not care much for Christianity, lumping it together with other Oriental mystery religions: "Fools and their mystery religions, their Isis and Attis and Christos! But when there is increasingly little hope for security in the world, how could anyone blame people who look for hope elsewhere?". Still, he has a thorough knowledge of the Christians, the basics of their theology and the differences between their various factions and sects—such knowledge of the Imperial society being needed in his professional capacity. When told by Calvus—who knew his future, which was her very ancient history—that a rump of the Roman Empire (i.e., the Byzantine Empire) would endure for a thousand years as a Christian theocracy, Perennius finds that unpalatable—but still prefers a Christian Empire to no Empire at all. Release details 1984, USA, Baen Books/Pocket Books (), Pub date ? August 1984, paperback (First edition) 1984, UK, Simon & Schuster (), Pub date ? August 1984, hardback 1991, USA, Tor Books (), Pub date ? April 1991, paperback 1991, USA, Tom Doherty Assoc (), Pub date ? April 1991, paperback 1999, USA, Baen Books (), Pub date ? February 1999, paperback References 1984 American novels American alternate history novels American historical novels American science fiction novels Novels about time travel Novels by David Drake Novels set in ancient Rome Religion in science fiction