The Seventh Gift: A Novel of Belisarius (The Last of the Romans Book 6)

The world is dying. That much is certain. The only question is: who will rule over the ashes?Rome has been reclaimed. Against all odds, Belisarius has triumphed. But peace is fleeting, and glory only whets the Empire’s appetite for more.As the Gothic War rages on, Belisarius and his weary veterans are driven north, tasked with shattering the last defenses of King Witiges. Vast Gothic armies rally to resist them, yet rumors swirl in every camp and village—whispers that Belisarius, not Witiges nor even faraway Justinian, is the man destined to wear the crown. Others within the Gothic ranks look to distant tribes, questioning whether domination by a foreign warlord might be kinder than vengeance from Constantinople.Northern Italy burns. The walls of Mediolanum and Ravenna tremble beneath the clash of empires. But as blood soaks the soil, a darker shadow spreads.It begins in the east—with hushed reports of a creeping affliction. A merciless scourge, striking faster than any sword, deadlier than any siege. Towns are emptied in days. Fields are left fallow, choked not by war, but by the afflicted. Some call it divine retribution. For others, the final revelation, borne atop a pale horse.And still the Empire demands more.While Justinian dreams of a Roman world reborn, his forces are stretched thin—caught between the fury of the Ostrogoths, rebellion smoldering in Africa, and a plague that devours all in its path. Belisarius and Varus must hold the line against chaos itself, even as the foundations of the Empire begin to crack beneath their feet.Italy teeters between rebirth and ruin. And in the ashes of a crumbling world, only one truth remains:The Empire will be united—or it will burn. Read more