Summer, 57 g. AD. Scarred in numerous battles, veterans of the Roman army of tribunes Cato and centurion Macron return to Rome Due to the failure of their recent campaign on the eastern borders of the Empire, they were met with hostile reception from the imperial entourage.[citation needed] Their reputation and future are at stake. At the same time, political opponents took advantage of Emperor Nero's fascination with his mistress, and he reluctantly sends her into exile. Cato, alone and rejected in Rome, is forced to accompany her to Sardinia. Arriving on a troubled, turbulent island with a small detachment of officers, Cato faces dangers in three directions at once. A fragmented command, a deadly plague spreading across the province... and a brutal uprising threatening to plunge the province into blood-soaked chaos.