Who will become the next Caesar and who will be sacrificed on the altar of Roman politics? The women will decide!
The fate of the world rests on Julia's shoulders. As the only legitimate daughter to her father, she has provided Rome the heirs needed to guarantee her family's survival beyond his death. But Gaius and Lucius are young; too young to rule if their grandfather dies unexpectedly. A strong-willed woman, Julia takes desperate measures to protect her sons from enemies; not the least of whom includes her husband.
Tiberius, driven by the burning ambition of his mother, Livia, has married the very woman he despises most. A great general, loved by the armies, and respected by Rome's conservative faction, he finds himself demeaned in his position as step-father to the child heirs. His silent hatred towards his mother erupts in blazing fury against his wife.
Fearful for her life and the fate of her five children, Julia makes marriage alliances. When she offers her daughter, Agrippina, to Germanicus, his mother, the irreproachably upright widow Antonia, finds herself and her three children caught in the dangerous power struggle for Rome's nonexistent throne.