Years ago, I wanted to learn who Emperor Alexios Komnenos was, who fought in the East and West to save Byzantium from the brink of collapse. With my thoughts always on Anna Komnene, the powerful woman, as portrayed by Kavafis.

Then I became captivated by his life. Which women loved him? Who was trying to poison him? Why did his daughter, Anna, hate her brother, co-emperor John, to death? Why did his wife, Eirene Douka, promote her son-in-law, Nikephoros Bryennios, to the throne? Hopes, tears, and sorrows, joys that evaporated, visions that faded, failures, pettiness, and passions.

My intention is to highlight the feeling that drove me to this journey, through the narrative of an unknown courtier, as he, secluded in Sinope of Pontus, remembers with awe the past...

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]