In the latter days of the Roman Empire, the corruption of the Caesars led to the decay of the government. Vast sums of revenues were either diverted or stolen. It weakened the legions in the outer provinces for lack of funding. The conflict between Rome and Constantinopolis (Constantinople) rose into open rebellion. It split the empire in two; the Western Roman Empire, with its capital in Rome and the Eastern Roman Empire, became known as Byzantium, had Constantinople as its capital. The western empire was weak, but it held the seat of the Catholic Church with the Pope in the Holy City of Rome. Attacks by the Vandals and Ostrogoths weakened Gaul and pressed on to Rome. The warring factions in Germania cut the trade routes off. The Amber Road was one of the trade routes cut from reaching Rome. In 402 A.D., a secret order sent a legion force of 2500 men into northeastern Germania what is today Poland. They ordered this legion to reopen the Amber Road and to protect the trade caravans from Gedania (Gdansk) to Vindobona (Vienna). After the sack of Rome in 410 A.D., the legion sent into Poland was forgotten and lost to history. Recent archeological findings have re-discovered the Lost Legion in northwestern Poland. The "Lost Legion" and the "Last Equestrian" novels tell what happened to these forgotten emissaries and how they helped to establish a new country with a strong family line that will live through the centuries