Blood Empire — Sydney Knox

Why would a man ever spill the blood of his son? Blood Empire recounts the story of Flavius Crispus, the star-crossed, eldest son of Constantine the Great. Set against the violence and depravity of Imperial Rome, it is a tale of twisted family bonds, wicked women, and broken promises. Crispus is the linchpin in Constantine's scheme to unite a divided empire under a strange and blood-soaked new religion, but he is too much like his father for his own good. When betrayal pulls Constantine into a civil war with his brother-in-law, it threatens to engulf Italy in a whirlwind of fire and ash and his relationship with Crispus suffers a fatal blow. In the balance of both swings Fausta, Constantine's beautiful but faithless wife and the loyal daughter of a ruthless clan equally determined to seize power. Fausta has plans for her children to replace Crispus as Constantine's heir, and she is determined to have her way at all costs, setting the stage for one of the greatest battles in history and a moment of prophesy that changed the world forever.