Rome, AD 51. Macro and Cato return from the provinces and enter the Praetorian Guard under false identities to investigate a conspiracy against Claudius. The capital offers no clear battle line: senators, freedmen, guards and members of the imperial household all pursue competing interests. Working undercover, the soldiers must identify the plotters before their cover is exposed and before a struggle for succession turns the city into a battlefield.
The Praetorian Guard is dangerous precisely because it protects the emperor while possessing the force needed to replace him. Macro and Cato must therefore investigate without knowing which officers are loyal to Claudius, which favour a rival successor and which are simply protecting their careers. Their military experience offers little advantage in a unit where the enemy may be wearing the same uniform.
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