Southern Anatolia, 260 AD. The town of Edessa, a Roman outpost, is on its last legs, besieged by the Persian troops of Shapur I. Roman Emperor Licinius Valerianus agrees to meet his adversary to draw up a peace treaty, but it is only a trap and the Emperor and his twelve guards are chained and dragged away to work as prisoners in a solitary Persian turquoise mine. After months of forced labour the Emperor dies, but his guards make a daring escape lead by the heroic and enigmatic chief, Marcus Metellus Aquila. They meet a mysterious, exiled Chinese Prince, Dan Qing, and agree to safeguard his journey home to reconquest his throne from his mortal enemy, a eunuch named Wei. Thus begins the adventures of the Romans and the Prince as they journey to China. There they will discover that they aren't the first of their kind to arrive in China: they were preceded centuries before by the survivors of the 'lost legion'.

Questa storia prende avvio e ispirazione dal rinvenimento e dallo scavo di due relitti medievali affondati presso l'isola, oggi sommersa in laguna, di San Marco in Boccalama, usata come luogo di sepoltura, se non di discarica, dei morti della peste del 1348. L'autore raccoglie gli elementi documentali di base di questa importante impresa archeologica ma rimescola completamente le carte per far partire un'avventura che subito decolla verso la dimensione dell'intrigo, del mistero e della caccia affannosa a un tesoro scomparso. Non si tratta di monete d'oro e d'argento né di un bottino di guerra dei marinai della Serenissima. Si tratta di un tesoro che nessuna somma di denaro potrebbe mai pagare, un patrimonio dell'anima, l'eredità di una mente superiore.

Alexander's epic quest continues into the heart of Asia and on towards the mystery of India. The Macedonian Army march ever onward in search of glory, crushing resistance at every turn. The culture and beauty of Babylon is quickly ravaged and the Palace of Persepolis burnt to ashes and cinder. An empire is destroyed and a new and bloody era begins. But there are other things on Alexander's mind. An ambitious project to unite the peoples of the empire under one homeland, begins to obsess him. There are rebellions and bloodshed, but the curious beauty of Queen Roxanna gives Alexander the strength to fulfil his destiny... This is a truly compelling, romantic and exciting book, and a fitting conclusion to the bestselling Alexander trilogy.