Publisher's Synopsis
Can a slave decide the fate of an emperor? Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula. Rufus, a young slave, grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial area, and Rufus discovers he has a natural talent for controlling and schooling the animals. He attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor, who wants a keeper for the imperial elephant. He is bought and taken to the imperial palace, where he and his friend, the gladiator Cupido, find themselves unwittingly at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate Caligula.
