Rome, 52 BC. Publius Clodius Pulcher is killed after an encounter with the followers of Titus Annius Milo on the Appian Way. His death brings armed gangs, riots and the burning of the Senate house, while Milo prepares to stand trial for murder.
Pompey asks Gordianus to reconstruct what happened on the road. Conflicting witnesses and carefully shaped rumours leave open whether the encounter was an ambush, an accident or a political assassination, and the answer may determine who controls a city already close to military rule.