The Book of DieselThe Light Before the Gospel“Dātam expected Artaxerxes to order an execution. Instead the king granted the fugitive time to learn the language and customs of the people whose dead stood between them. Mercy felt offensive when grief had been waiting years for a target.”
The Book of Diesel · Gospel Threshold Edition v4.5
Historically anchoredThe setting or public event is documented; dialogue, motives, and recurring characters are invented.
Ancient sources report that Themistocles, the Athenian statesman associated with the Greek victory at Salamis, fled Greek enemies and received refuge from Artaxerxes I, son of Xerxes. He later governed cities in Asia Minor under Persian authority.
Themistocles and Artaxerxes I are historical. Dātam, the veterans’ supper, and the conversations about asylum and revenge are fictional.