The Roman Empire never fell. Driven by political ambition and internal dissent, thrown into turmoil by rebellion and civil war, it changed and adapted, but it never fell. The balance of power between Byzantium in the east and Rome in the west ebbed and flowed, but the Empire never fell. And it continued to expand, taking in the New World, while still dominating the old.

This ambitious and accomplished novel explores fifteen hundred years of alternate Roman history through the very human stories of some of those who lived through it: the soldier encountering the exoticism of the New World for the first time; the minor official exiled to Arabia for some misdemeanour whose meeting with a religious fanatic may have changed the course of history; the military hero seizing his destiny; the innocent British aristocrat witnessing the destruction of the royal family; the children who find the last emperor in a decaying wood are all vividly and memorably portrayed.

This brilliant and though-provoking work from one of science fiction's greatest talents will take its place among the very best of the alternate histories.

This collection contains the following stories:

• AUC 1203: Prolugue
• AUC 1282: With Caesar in the Underworld
• AUC 1365: A Hero of the Empire
• AUC 1861: The Second Wave
• AUC 1951: Waiting for the End
• AUC 2206: An Outpost of the Realm
• AUC 2543: Getting to know the Dragon
• AUC 2603: Via Roma
• AUC 2650: Tales from the Venia Woods
• AUC 2723: To the Promised Land