The Witch Goddess — Robert Adams

The tale is set in precataclysmic North America, approximately 600 years after nuclear war, man-induced plagues, and worldwide seismic disturbances have thrown humanity into a brutal pre-industrial age. Much of California and the East Coast have sunk into the sea. What remains of the eastern states, from Canada to Georgia, has been settled by waves of dark-skinned and dark-haired adventurers from Europe (Spaniards, Greeks, Armenians, etc.) called the Ehleenee. While these early settlers were initially rugged fighters in the mold of Athenians and Spartans, over the centuries they became little more than decadent dictators ruling over downtrodden peasant farmers