Only recently I failed,
And yet I bore no punishment
So here's the tale, a battle lost -
The fields beside Callinicum
The Persians swept into our land,
On Easter day we came in range
The men were firm - they wanted
Blood on this,
A day meant for the Lord
But bound to fast, they tired quick
And so the Persians rolled us up

Awoken from the mist of haunted,
Dimlit daydreams,
I sharply snapped back into focus
Our ally Hilderic in former Roman
Africa has been imprisoned by usurper

Ocean waves slap the hull
Sunbeams yonder pierce the clouds
Our destiny -
To liberate our kinsmen
Who, as of now,
Face persecution

O stavros nika,
Oh let there be light
I'll bear my cross of guilt
And walk up to the mark
O stavros nika, oh let there be light
May I redeem myself from Callinicum

Our mission is holy,
As the Vandals permit piracy
And persecute the Orthodox
This isn't vainglory,
But rather just reconquest
So Gelimer, your time is nigh!
Ocean waves slap the hull
Sunbeams yonder
Pierce the clouds
On either side
My wife and godson stand proud
And back at home
Our daughter waits

O stavros nika,
Oh let there be light
I'll bear my cross to shame
And march
On through the mire
O stavros nika, oh let there be light
May I redeem myself from Callinicum

Golden rays crack the clouds
Shimmering shoreline smiles
Oh my God, hear our prayers
Condescend out of mercy
Give us strength, give us courage
Let us fear you evermore

Golden rays crack the clouds
Shimmering shoreline smiles
And my wife, Antonina
May she be ever by my side

We'll play it smart, no brash attack
We'll land afar and close
The circle again
So keep in mind the spirit here
We're liberators, not conquerors

The sun, its rise is gradual
Yet fills the sky
And we, alike the sun, will rise
And dominate the land below

Kill! - I!
Maim! - Push!
Burn! - Grind!
Here confusion reigns
Kill! - We!
Maim! - Crack!
Burn! - Drive!
At ad decimum

Outside of Carthage, my good friend
John - he smashed
The Vandals and killed the king's brother
When Gelimer, the Vandal king, came
On the scene he fell to his knees

"My brother, he lies so broken, torn, and glassy-eyed"
The sad king, he stopped his army
There to bury Ammatus

John pursued the king of Vandals for days while I marched
And took Carthage
Open arms greeted us at the gate
Tomorrow's sun will rise again
On African Rome

Tomorrow's sun has come
And sets behind the western sands
A messenger approaches and says
That John is gone
A stray arrow brought him down
Belisarius, he chokes
On his own tears

"Who is responsible?
Who let this happen?"
The messenger reports
It was one of his own
Killed by friendly fire,
His dying words were
"Punish not the man who killed
Me by mistake"

Is this Injustice? I feel powerless
There's no one for me
To jail or execute
Erect a shrine for him,
I'll pay the price
For years hereafter I will take
Good care of him

My only solace - my loving wife
Dear Antonina, please comfort me

A disgruntled slave
Brought chambermaids
To kneel before me
And tell me what?
It never rains - it pours on me
The blood within me boils
Sing hallelujah!
They say they saw my wife
Lay with my own godson
How could they sin against me?
Sing hallelujah!
Am I not just? I have the right,
The right to have her killed
Sing hallelujah!
Am I like Christ
Who so forgave
The adulteress from stoning?
Sing hallelujah!

If I forgave her, Antonina,
What can be said then
For Theodosius?
She came from the streets
And worked as an actress
But my dear godson
Should have known better
I gave him a life,
And now he betrays me
Nothing could stop me -
Think of the ways I could inflict pain
It's coming down, down to the wire
Time to decide how I should proceed from here

How I can feel that she is hurting
How I can see
That she's not proud of herself
And life is lonely, always apart
And yet I have managed
To be loyal to her
Rumors begin to gather traction,
And I am regarded
As a pawn of my wife
A great commander,
But a puppet to her
It's not surprising;
Virtue seems
Strange to the world

The might of Africa will fade,
And all our monuments dissolve
There's nothing here that will
Remain, and yet our lives
Somehow resound

Our fleeting lives are meaningful
Nothing you do doesn't matter
Every choice you make
Moves this world
Toward hell or paradise

Sand that once was held
In Roman hands
Slipped through their fingers
Now, their second chance
Is in my hands
We're reuniting Rome

March! Join in the new crusade
Hail! Take up your old mantle
March! After the darkness fell,
Roman light is returning

March! Join in the new crusade
Hail! Standing at Naples' gates
March! This is your time
To choose - glory or decay

Nothing numbs the pain for me
I try in vain to carry on
Autumn of souls!
Nothing frees my heart from her
This tether is hooked into my core
Autumn of souls!

Death, before and on Naples' walls
Weeks gone by to no avail
We need a break for time is short
And winter is on the horizon

March! Join in the new crusade
Hail! Standing at Naples' gates
March! Needing a safe way in -
Now we may have found it

March! Into the aqueduct
Hail! Sappers are digging deep
March! Clearing a path for men
To slip into the city

March! Join in the new crusade
Hail! This is your last warning
March! Open the gates or else
We will sack the city

March! We have a way inside
Hail! No need for more to die
March! I'd rather this beed bloodless,
But Naples will be ours

Sixty years have come and gone
Since Rome did fall
Since glory reigned,
Since Rome was ruled by Romans
By invitation of the pope
We took it back
Not as conquerors,
But as their liberators

Gloria - galloping homeward
Gloria
Gloria - valiant general
He's charging desperate, shattered

Light of light,
Heart of hearts
While he's gone - there is nowhere
That I can call home
Light of light
Heart of hearts
Where he's gone - there is no guarantee he'll come back

Hearing word that Ostrogothic
Armies were near
Belisarius led his elite guard
To see ambushed from the rear,
A foe soon recognized him
And told the Ostrogoths,
"Fire on the white-faced horse"

Light of light,
Heart of hearts
Arrows fall like
A torrent of rain
From the sky

Light of light
Heart of hearts
Protects him
From a single
Of a myriad of deaths
The Roman guards
Can hear them pleading
"Open the gates, it's Belisarius"

Gloria - they don't recognize him
Gloria
Gloria - they won't open the gates
And still the Goths are encircling

Gloria - the general turns 'round
Gloria
Gloria - dying in glory
They faced the Goths in a last charge

Light of light
Heart of hearts
Seeing them charge the Goths
With such savage success
Light of light
Heart of hearts
Then they knew,
These were allies
At least - let them in

Most blessed, most high
Antonina runs to embrace her husband again

Failure follows
Every step and here's
The last leap that I took again,
No punishment, just like Callinicum

For months
We've withstood Gothic siege
We're hanging on by a thread
All of these new recruits we've
Pressed, they are not prepared
And yet I saw it fit
To try and test their mettle

Blessed am I, standing aright
Gazing upon the fields below
So many times I should have died
Why am I preserved?

Cursed am I, turning away
Gazing upon the streets below
I see her once again with him
Antonina smiles

I call the men to arms and shout,
"O stavros nika!"
We sweep into the fields beyond
The battle is raging
The new recruits
Had pushed them back,
But chose not to pursue
Instead they chose
To loot the camps
This cost us victory

Amber dusk
Again, it happened once again
It burns,
Shredding my heart,
Oh it burns again,
I'll have to blame the men
Report they pressured
Me into the fight

Now recalled to Syria,
He took upon
Himself a new restraint
With shepherd-like protectiveness
He'd guide his men
To fight the Sassanids

His young stepson Photius
Meanwhile was stationed
In the capital
And there
He saw his mother
And Theodosius renew
Their love affair

O spider mother, while you're at
Play Belisarius fights off invaders
And yet you soil your husband's bed
With another man
I'm yours no more

Photius rode to tell the man
Who took him as a son
That he had been betrayed
The rolling hills of Syria
Are black against the glorious,
Ember-laden sunset

Step by step he strode
And knelt before the man
There I spoke it all,
And after, silence fell
After much endured
The man had finally broke

As darkness falls
Belisarius turns 'round to face his stepson
As darkness falls
His heart is hardened -
No more could he now endure

As darkness falls
The two embraced
And swore to uproot the decay
As darkness falls
The two declared
This mire of sin would be drained

You shall take the task
Of capturing
Sly Theodosius
Wait for me to kill him
I shall wait for my wife to return,
And then I'll see to it that
She is arrested

Squirming, writhing pleasure
Consumes the two lovers
Their shadows dance upon the
Marble walls

The revelation
Of the human heart unfurled
A gaping maw
That howls and whirls
You're fighting the wind
To keep yourself from falling back
It never stops until you're dead

Step by step
I descend from the heights
That once upheld me - living life
So virtuous
Step by step she backs away from me
This is the last time
You will so betray me
Kicking, screaming terror
Consumes my lovely wife
Her shadow thrashes
Against the prison walls

The revelation
Of the human heart unfurled
A gaping maw
That howls and whirls
Your fingers are holding
On to every crack and jag
It never stops until you're dead

Photius swiftly captured him,
My doglike godson
And for a brief time I was clear,
Justice had been served
But then the empress
Heard the news
And called us to their court
Could this be providence of God?
- Resist him!

Trembling, furious maelstrom
Within the general's heart
This would be his last chance
To assert control

The revelation
Of the human heart unfurled
A gaping maw
That howls and whirls
I'll capture and murder the bastard
- No remorse!
It never stops
Until you're dead

Turn my heart into a stone,
Let me sink
I've turned my suffering
Into a cause for hate
By his decree
We were compelled to reconcile
You cannot force my love,
I'll hold onto my pain

The power to choose
Who lives and who will die
Is not my right
In doing so I kick the Lord
Off his seat of rightful judgment
Over man
God knows I've tried
To fight off sinful thoughts

The crown you wear,
It burns your hair
And sears your skin
You cry aloud
"Let there be light - let there be nothing!"

As master I came,
Yet now my tone is changed
They've torn out my guts
And held me down to bleed
But that left me empty
And open to the light
Forgive me now
- I trust your providence

Meanwhile
Photius was captured and tortured
The empress restored my godson
To my wife
What can I do?
The emperor's against me
Grant me only the power
To change my perspective

The crown you wear,
It digs into your precious flesh
You cry aloud,
"Let there be light - let there be nothing!"

Father, designer, installer of fear
Not long thereafter
My wife's lover died
No longer writhing
In pleasure and joy
Writhing in agony
In his own filth

Father, commander
A shepherd of men
I could not go down
This dread path of sin
Combat the demons
With fasting and prayer
Flush out the swamp of filth in
Your own heart

Ever marching on
I feel
Still we're
Marching on