Servius Fulvius Flaccus returns from the war at Carthage expecting that he now has the opportunity to make political moves.
However, his earliest realization is that Scipio Africanus, his patron and recent commander, has not chosen Servius as one of the men he intends to advance. Swallowing his resentment, Servius begins to maneuver, intending to act so shrewdly that he will be impossible to ignore.
As he works on behalf of his cousins, Quintus and Gaius Fulvius, he learns of past scandals in their branch of the family, of which he was not conscious. His efforts to surface the unfavorable incidents and dilute the damage they might do contributes to political schisms between major families that were already heating up.
When Rome learns that instability in both provinces of Hispania has gone from bad to worse, and Rome, once again, needs to put armies in harm's way, Servius works ingeniously to make that effort possible.
Servius congratulates himself on his small successes, but he still has a distance to travel before he can occupy major magistracies of the City. Not only must he become known as a sound political force, he must find a source of continuing revenue that will finance his career. Working through where he might find money, he realizes that his only real opportunity is to return to territory where the residents know him and may recognize that doing business through him may be profitable. He puts together an expedition to travel back through Illyricum and Macedonia - the region where he had success before going to Africa to join in destroying Carthage.
The journey is not as easy as Servius had hoped. His companions, chosen so that Servius could educate and impress them, watch him struggle to deal with the Illyrians and the Roman provincial government. He and they risk their lives repeatedly, eventually being reduced to rowing the ships that bring them to Corinth.
Corinth is in the throes of demolition. Lucius Mummius, the victorious general, disagrees with the senate's "advice" to totally obliterate the defeated city. He grasps at Servius as his last hope to change that policy and rushes him back to Rome with petitions to the men who run things there. Servius accepts the task and re-enters the complicated tangle of interclan contention. He has learned more than he expected since returning from Africa, (especially on his journey), about topics he had never considered. And he has managed, despite his difficulties, to set up some future moves.