Prelude I: The Eternal City

  Date: September 15, 476 A.D. | Location: Roma, Italia

  Personal Letter of Senator Spurius Cornelius Cicero, preserved in the archives of Roma.

  To the people of Rome, Children of Mars,

  The world we knew is lost. The Empire has fallen. I write these words not as a surrender, but as a testament of hope. The marble columns around me stand cracked, ready to crumble, and the purple robe of emperors has been stripped from a boy too young to bear its weight. Romulus Augustulus has been deposed, and the barbarian Odoacer now claims mastery over Italia. But I swear this with all the strength left in me: Rome does not die today.

  Yes, our legions are scattered. The treasury lies bare. The aqueducts run dry, and our banners no longer fly over Gaul, Hispania, or Africa. The Eternal City is but a shadow of her former glory. And yet, here in Italia, the heart of Rome still beats.

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  This day, what remains of the Senate gathered, and I raised my voice to remind them: we must let go of what we can no longer hold. Our Empire stretches no more from ocean to ocean. Our fate is smaller now, yet perhaps stronger for it. If we cling to Italia, to the City itself, then Rome might yet live on.

  Let the barbarians think us broken. Let Constantinople turn their backs on us. We shall preserve our heritage and protect the flame of Rome within these borders until brighter days return. For Rome is not merely an emperor’s crown or a soldier’s sword. Rome is a spirit, eternal, unyielding, and never to be broken.

  If you read these words someday, remember this: though the Empire fell, Rome endured. And survival, in such an hour, may be the greatest victory of all.

  — Senator Spurius Cornelius Cicero, written from Roma, in the shadow of the Senate