Rome AD 51: Vespasian brings Rome's greatest enemy before the Emperor. After eight years of resistance the British warrior Caratacus has been caught. But Agrippina Emperor Claudius's wife pardons Caratacus. Claudius is a drunken fool and Narcissus and Pallas his freedmen are battling for control of his throne. Separately they decide to send Vespasian East to Armenia to defend Rome's interests. Meanwhile the East is in turmoil. A new Jewish cult is flourishing and its adherents refuse to swear loyalty to the Emperor. In Armenia Vespasian is captured. Immured in the oldest city on earth how can he escape? And is a Rome ruled by a woman who despises Vespasian any safer than a prison cell?

Part of the Vespasian Series series.