The Gate of Fire (Oath of Empire #2) By Thomas Harlan

Just couldn't get into this book. Finally gave up & gave it away. English Rome and Byzantium against Persia with magic second round: even more impressive with Mahommed really shining in this volume English interesting continuation of the story. English Amazon.com Review

This is the second book in the Oath of Empire series, set in an alternate Roman Empire circa A.D. 623. Prince Maxian, younger brother to Galen, Emperor of the Western Empire (Rome), and Heraclius, Emperor of the Eastern Empire (Constantinople), has returned to Rome to disrupt the magical power of the centuries-old oath of allegiance to the Emperor that all legionnaires take. Maxian believes the oath constrains citizens to a narrow path, stifling creativity as well as any thought of disobedience, and he intends to use all his sorcerous power--and the help of Alexander the Great and Gaius Julius Caesar, whom he has raised from the dead--to succeed. The Empire, meanwhile, is threatened by multiple enemies: The insane Persian necromancer Dahak is determined to raise an army by any means to regain the Peacock Throne toppled by the Empire. Zoë, niece of Palmyra's Queen Zenobia, and her ragged but determined followers plot revenge on Rome for allowing the Persians to sack and destroy their beloved city. And in the deserts of Iraq, a man named Mohammed is driven by a prophetic vision to build an army against the Empire. Harlan's attention to detail is impressive, at times overwhelming, as he fills the broad canvas of his hypothetical Roman Empire. Readers with the stamina to follow every thread of the multitudinous plot lines here will find a vigorously imagined, thought-provoking story. --Charlene Brusso

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Against this alternative history and military strategy novel, Thomas Harlan delves into events involving sorcery in Persia, Rome and Arabia, as the sorcerer Dahak plots to regain the Peacock Throne. This is the sequel to The Shadow of Ararat. The Gate of Fire (Oath of Empire #2)