Leonidas, freedman, former gladiator and champion of the Roman Colosseum, now must fight the full might of the Roman Empire. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect. With the formidable assistance of Cassia, a scribe who is also his unwanted slave, Leonidas fights the treachery of justice in the courts and back lanes of Imperial Rome. If he loses, he faces a short, painful future back in the Colosseum, without hope of survival.