In Matilde’s Empress, book three of The Visigoth Saga by Robert S. Phillips we follow Matilde’s exploits during the decline of the Roman Empire, with unrelenting battles, meticulous period detail, and insight into how Romans and non-Romans alike dealt with shifting alliances and the frequent loss of loved ones.
Now eighteen, feisty and wise Matilde has lost a child, her lover, and her safety. After she escapes to Thessalonica where her stepbrother Alaric presides, a courier brings word of Emperor Arcadius’s desire to rid his Eastern kingdom of the Visigoths. All Roman subsidies for the Goth’s armed forces are canceled.
Ever the advisor, Matilde pushes for Alaric’s people to shift loyalties and align with Stilicho, the sympathetic Roman general who leads the Western kingdom’s military. Under the guise of delivering wedding gifts to the Western Emperor Honorius, a delegation departs to meet with Stilicho. However, not before Matilde enters a three-way marriage with Alaric and his wife, Pentadia.
During her travels, Matilde discovers she’s pregnant.
The web of politics becomes more complicated as Stilicho remains on friendly terms but will not go against the East. Soon after the delegation returns, Matilde gives birth to Theodoric. It quickly becomes apparent that without enough money to go around clans will soon fall on each other and dissolve into pure conflict. The chieftains appoint Alaric as King of the Goths, which bestows on him the responsibility to find his people a fertile land far from their enemies.
As their migration begins, they wade through a land of violence – battles within the barbarian tribes, between barbarian and Roman armies, and between Romans and Huns. Men are slaughtered, and their wives and children are sold to slave traders.
Amidst the bloodshed, Matilde – Queen of the Goths by virtue of her marriage to Alaric – is taken captive. She becomes enamored with a Roman general, Constantius, and they begin an affair.
Political machinations – treachery, poor planning by excessively proud men, frequent shifts of power – create an intriguing plot. But while Matilde’s love affairs provide some respite, the near-constant fighting and casual indifference to death wears at the heart. Even Matilde is not immune to the weight of it: “Constantius allowed the captured legionaries to swear allegiance to Emperor Honorius. Only a few refused. He had them executed, along with all the barbarian prisoners. I thought that brutal, but, indeed, how were we to manage prisoners?”
Even when there’s hope, sorrow lurks nearby: Matilde is finally released to go home to her family, only to find that a sickness has taken many. Alaric insists that their son Theodoric, his only heir, remain with him. He grants Matilde a divorce so that she can return to Italia with Constantius.
The Roman Empire continues its fall, as usurpers such as Constantine arise, and allegiance to the Western and Eastern emperors is easily turned by gold.
All sides continue to loot, plunder, and pillage any unfortified community. Incestuous marriages are made as power plays. When a longtime Roman ally of Alaric’s is murdered, the empire’s last grasp of power loosens. In 410 CE, Alaric leads the Goths to sack Rome.
Lands and migrations are granted, only to see more battle over those lands. Within a year, Britain is no longer Roman. Within eight years, the Romans finally conceded to allowing barbarian tribes to live peacefully within their territory.
Despite her years of foresight and reasoned counsel, men continued to discount Matilde for being a mere woman. Even Constantius loses interest when she fails to provide him with an heir. Her closest friend, Placidia—ready to marry Constantius once the two divorce – tells her, “A wife either produces sons or she is not a good wife. Your brilliance and other qualities were interesting but not essential.”
In a few years, however, Placidia seeks her help in fending off Honorius. Matilde muses, “Of course, I will go. My next adventure is just beginning.”
This final chapter in The Visigoth Saga will satisfy readers with Matilde’s tale of a girl who grows into a woman on her own terms. Phillips dives into the ancient world and brings readers with him to stand side-by-side with a legendary warrior heroine.
