Marco, former slave in the house of Claudius, is now a freedman and has become master of the grain shipments at the Claudia Procula estate in Ostia. Procula and her cousin, Claudius the Stammerer, unwittingly involve Marco in a political scheme that could threaten the throne and puts them all at risk. For everyone's safety, Marco is forced into the Roman Legion and is eventually posted in Judea. Several years later he is reunited with his former mistress, who is now the wife of the procurator of Judea, and the old political maneuver once again threatens their safety. When Marco stands trial for aiding a new sect of fanatics who promote a false faith, he is faced with an agonizing choice - where does his allegiance lay? With Rome, or with the truth?