After Caligula's murder, the Praetorian Guard declares his uncle Claudius, brother of the illustrious Germanicus, as the new emperor. However, in fact, the reins of Rome are taken up by three dexterous Greek freedmen - Narcissus, Pallas and Callistus .. To consolidate their position in the shadow of the crown, they need to strengthen the power of Claudius, winning for him the love of the legions and the Roman plebs. The Greeks develop a cunning plan - to send troops to conquer Britain and attribute all the strategic merits to Claudius. And to show the emperor himself a hero and a wise ruler, it is necessary to find and return to Rome the imperial golden eagle - the great symbol of the Seventeenth Legion, lost during the defeat somewhere in the remote forests of Germany about forty years ago. This difficult task is entrusted to Vespasian, who does not suspect that the Greeks did not devote him to all the details of his sophisticated intrigue.