Star Of The Sea

The sign of the cross links the Time Patrol to the King of Ys, as also does the Star of the Sea. The dead Ysan King's ashes are strewn at sea:

"...given to Belisama (Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite, Venus, Nerthus...), the Star of the Sea." (Roma Mater, p. 121)

Ys is a colony of Carthage which was a colony of Tyre. Time Patrol shows us the Tyrian Temple of Ashtoreth and Nerthus and the process by which the Star of the Sea, Stella Maris, becomes Mary.

When Gratillonius becomes King of Ys, he simultaneously represents three deities because he is:

a servant of Mithras;
the incarnation of the Ysan god, Taranis;
the prefect of Roman, responsible for appointing a Christian chaplain to the city after consultation with the nearest bishop.

Gratillonius also embodies a time of change because:

he is the last King of Ys;
in his lifetime, Mithras and the Ysan Triad will join the Olympians in withdrawing before the new God;
his own daughter will have to be exorcised by a Christian priest after her transformation by the Ysan sea god, Lir;
after the inundation of Ys and the withdrawal of the Empire from Gaul, Gratillonius will oversee new defensive measures that are destined to become medieval feudalism - a necessary historical stage between ancient slave-owning empires and modern society.

Virgil's Aeneid, enjoyed by Gratillonius, shows the mythological origins of Rome and its Empire. The King of Ys Tetralogy shows us the historical decline of the Empire. The Time Patrol series shows us history. Several other series are future histories.