52 B.C. Eager to return to Rome after eight long years of war, Gaius Julius Caesar ends his campaign with a resounding triumph in Gaul--and news of a shattering personal loss at home. When his army's gold standard is stolen, Caesar's cousin and commander Mark Antony enlists two soldiers, Centurion Lucius Vorenus and Legionnaire Titus Pullo, to track it down. Despite their differences, the two make a formidable duo, and elevate themselves by retrieving more than just the missing standard. In Rome, Caesar's old friend Pompey Magnus is counseled by Cato, Cicero, Scipio and other old-guard members of the Senate, who worry that Caesar's popularity among the masses will rattle the patrician status quo, along with their wealth and power. Pompey too has experienced a personal loss, which Caesar's niece, Atia, looks to assuage through an offering of her daughter, Octavia. Careful to play both sides of an escalating power struggle, Atia sends Caesar a grand token of her esteem, hand-delivered after a perilous journey by her precocious 11-year-old son, Octavian.