The young Julius Caesar is serving on board a war galley, gaining a fearsome reputation. Then his ship is captured, and he is ransomed and then abandoned on the north African coast. After gathering a force of men powerful enough not only to gain vengeance on his captors but also to suppress an uprising in Greece, he returns to Rome a hero. But then Julius finds he must fight again. For a new crisis is threatening the city. In the unexpected form of a rebellious gladiator named Sparticus ...