A beautiful pagan. A ruler searching for a wife. Can a marriage of expedience change the course of an empire?
Constantinople, AD 419. Athenais holds faint hope for her future. When the impoverished orphan’s male relatives offer her up as a consort for the emperor, she reluctantly agrees to study the philosophical arguments for the required conversion to Christianity. But while the accomplished scholar quickly falls for her imperial husband, she struggles with the court’s cutthroat political maneuvering and stubborn religious fanaticism.
Raised to Augusta after birthing her first daughter, Athenais consolidates her influence to build an entourage of skilled artists, writers, and thinkers, despite her jealous sister-in-law’s protests. But just when the protective philosopher thinks she’s won the fight for her spouse’s respect and affection, a series of catastrophes threatens to undermine her hard-earned position.
Can she withstand the storm and claim the throne she so rightly deserves?
Rebel Empress is the insightful third tale in the Theodosian Women biographical historical fiction series. If you like learning about forgotten heroines and immersing yourself in past times, you’ll love Faith L. Justice’s path through tragedies and triumphs.
- “Absolutely riveting novel of a scholar’s orphaned daughter who marries the emperor of Constantinople in the year 409 AD. It is a love marriage, but the sweet, malleable emperor is pulled between her, his controlling sister, and the religious factions so rife at the period which gradually fill her life with danger. I fell utterly in love with Empress Athenais, so genuine and good and so alone in an increasingly unstable court and world. As remarkable is the author’s recreation of the everyday life of so long ago, the streets, the food, the palaces, the easily swayed mobs of people, the huge churches, the ornate uncomfortable regal garments and heavy jewelry mingled with scenes of informal family life and small, lovely gatherings. Athenais will remain with me for a very long time. A truly remarkable heroine in a truly compelling story.” Stephanie Cowell, American Book Award Recipient, author of The Boy in the Rain and Claude and Camille: a novel of Monet.
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“Faith Justice’s latest book, Rebel Empress, is the remarkable story of Athenais’ life as Augusta. Although she came from humble beginnings, her beauty allowed her to ascend to the highest position in her kingdom – wife of the Augustus and co-ruler of the empire.
Although she suffers through terrible personal tragedies, she never compromises her duties to her people or her faith. Faith Justice has done an amazing job of transporting the reader into the very early days of the fifth century’s life and court intrigues. I was swept away by both the grandeur of the court and the scope of history covered in this book.
Athenais is one of the most formidable women I have ever encountered in a fictional biography and her story will stay with me for a very long time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about historical independent women who overcome all odds and adhere to their beliefs. A definite five-star read.” Eileen Joyce-Donovan, author A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma
- Title: Rebel Empress: A Novel of Imperial Rome (Theodosian Women Book Three)
- Author: Faith L. Justice
- Audio narrator: TBD
- Publisher: Raggedy Moon Books (August 2024)
- Library of Congress Control Number: 2024900937
- Hardback: (384 pages) $22.95, ISBN: 978-0917053337
- Trade paperback (384 pages) $14.95, ISBN: 978-0917053320
- eBook (Kindle, epub) $4.99
- Audio book (TBD) ISBN: 978-0917053344
Sample Chapter TBD
Sample Audio TBD
Rebel Empress Audio Supplemental PDF TBD
Rebel Empress Research Bibliography TBD