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{{ImperialFistsPortal}}
The '''Book of Five Spheres''' is a tome written by [[Rhetoricus]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] that details the Chapter's art of war, martial practices, warrior culture , and philosophy.{{Fn|3}} After the [[Codex Astartes]], the Book is one of the most influential treatises on the Imperial Fists' philosophy of combat.
==History==
While relatively little is known about [[Rhetoricus ]] and the ''Book of the Five Spheres'', it is known that the work constituted his magnum opus and was composed near the end of his life, "some long centuries before" the [[M41|41st millennium]]. Among the Chapter, [[Rhetoricus ]] is considered second only to [[Rogal Dorn]] in knowledge of war, making the tome among the most authoritative texts of the Imperial Fists.{{Fn|1a}}
The work deals with a wide array of content and includes subjects ranging from meditation to a comprehensive appraisal of the strengths and limitations of all the weapons in an arsenal of the Adeptus Astartes. Concerning the latter, Rheotircus [[Rhetoricus]] considered the sword the most perfect close-combat weapon devised by man, without which an Imperial Fist rarely steps onto the field of battle.{{Fn|1a}}{{Fn|3}}
In introducing the canonical work to [[aspirant]]s, Captain [[Taelos]] says that "in the estimation of most within the Chapter, it was not until Rhetoricus codified the Rites of Battle that the accumulated wisdom of our noble traditions was finally distilled into one text. In the sacred pages of The Book of Five Spheres did Rhetoricus record all that he knew of weapons and war.”{{Fn|1a}}
