Dardanus

In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, on the road to Saint-Geniez, a mysterious engraved rock mentions Théopolis, a city founded in the 5th century in reference to Augustine's City of God, whose existence, size, and location have been the subject of numerous speculations. But more than the city itself, the figure of its founder, Dardanus, fascinates historians and has long excited imaginations, as his existence is very poorly documented. Who was this Roman who lived in the troubled final days of the Empire, rose to the highest positions, and then, following his conversion to Christianity, retired to the Alps where he founded the famous Théopolis, of which all traces have been erased by centuries, except for the engraved stone? Through this fictionalized account in the form of a diary, Jean-Robert Pitte attempts to lift the veil on the mystery that still shrouds this city, and presents his version of the story of Claudius Posthumus Dardanus, the remarkable prefect of the Praetorian Guard of Gaul.