Thea, a Jewish slave, falls in love with a gladiator, Arius, but is then sold. She later catches the eye of the emperor Domitian.
The author appreciates the complexities of Domitian's character so he is not just a cardboard villain. The central romance between Arius and Thea was fun, watching to see how they would get re-united. The only thing that I wondered about was whether Christianity was quite so developed by then as is made out.