Into the crisis-ridden Eastern Roman Empire of the 6th century two monks arrived with an audacious plan: to steal the secret of silk production from China. Why was this idea so important to Emperor Justinian? Jemahl Evans, author of The Charioteer, unravels what may have been the first recorded case of international industrial espionage in […]
The Charioteer by Jemahl Evans
Constantinople, AD550. The Roman Empire is in crisis with war in Italy and plague ravaging the cities. Emperor Justinian’s reconquest of the west has stalled, and his treasury is bankrupt. Porphyrius the Charioteer, a bitter former slave, is the greatest competitor to ever ride in the Hippodrome, but when he loses his last race an […]