Emperor Claudius Gothicus is dead. Aurelian is dashing around Thrace, chasing a Goth horde, while Claudius' weakling brother Quintillus is elevated to the purple. Rome is still broken in three, with the Gallic Empire going strong in Gaul, Britannia and Germania. While the East is increasingly independent, and anti-Roman, under Odaenathus' widow Zenobia. What Aurelian accomplishes next is difficult to fathom, and will bestow upon him the most extraordinary and well deserved of honorary title: RESTITUTOR ORBIS.

Aurelian. Farm boy. Born in the dirt somewhere near Sirmium, son of a soldier, and a priestess of Sol Invictus. He entered the army at the very bottom and fought his way to the top of the military hierarchy, the old fashioned way - he earned every bit of it. By the time Claudius Gothicus died, he was the number two to the emperor, the general in charge of the entire army. But this was a reduced Empire, split in three, overrun by barbarian enemies on the frontiers, and devastated by the Plague. What is Rome in 270AD? And who is Aurelian? Does any of it matter when the world as we know it no longer exists?

In the heart of darkness that was the Crisis of the Third Century, Postumus was one of those super talented generals cherry picked by the supreme talent scout that was the Emperor Gallienus. A Roman through and through, as Juthungi and Frank warriors poured across the Rhine, Postumus rode a wave of discontent, was declared emperor of a new world that would be known as the Gallic Empire, killed Gallienus' son, and would build a new regime dedicated to holding the line on the Rhine frontier. Villain or hero? Emperor or usurper? Tune in to Episode 44 to find out....