Antonina; Or, The Fall of Rome is a historical romance by Wilkie Collins. Collins was an English novelist and playwright. Excerpt: "He stopped; for by this time he had lashed himself into fury. His eyes glared, his cheeks flushed, his voice rose. Could he then have seen the faintest vision of the destiny that future ages had in store for the posterity of the race that now suffered throughout civilised Europe, like him—could he have imagined how, in after years, the 'middle class', despised in his day, was to rise to privilege and power; to hold in its just hands the balance of the prosperity of nations; to crush oppression and regulate rule; to soar in its mighty flight above thrones and principalities, and rank and riches, apparently obedient, but really commanding;—could he but have foreboded this, what a light must have burst upon his gloom, what a hope must have soothed him in his despair!"

Collins' Antonina is one of his more difficult works. The plot involves the conflict between old and new religions as well as a struggles between a father and his daughter.

A romance of the fifth century, in which many of the scenes described in the 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ' are reset to suit the purpose of the author. Only two historical personages are introduced into the story, - the Emperor Honorius, and Alaric the Goth; and these attain only a secondary importance. Among the historical incidents used are the arrival of the Goths at the gates of Rome, the Famine, the last efforts of the besieged, the Treaty of Peace, the introduction of the Dragon of Brass, and the collection of the ransom, - most of these accounts being founded on the chronicles of Zosimus. This book does not show the intricacy of plot and clever construction of the author's modern society stories; but it is full of action, vivid in color, and sufficiently close to history to convey a dramatic sense of the Rome of Honorius and the closing-in of the barbarian

"In 531 AD the Roman general Flavious Belisarius married a one-time prostitute named Antonina. Belisarius was perhaps the noblest person ever to lead great armies and was one of the most successful commanders in history. He loved and was faithful to Antonina their whole lives together"--Page 4 of cover.