Byzantion 1899 - Prologue

Here is the Prologue for the book I'm working on! 

Byzantion 1899 

An Esoteric Alternate History Pulp-"Western"

What if Rome Never fell, but in fact evolved and survived into the 19th Century?

Set 30 years after the end of what is known as "The 40 Years' Crisis" - a Massive Civil War that Split the Former 3rd Roman Empire in two: With the West becoming the Secunda Sancta Romana Respublica [2nd Holy Roman Republic] and the East becoming the Basileia ton Byzantion [Empire of Byzantion].

A strange journey to the East and the wild frontiers of the Steppe...