A small beggar boy, the most powerful mage in a millennium. A wise cracking baby owl of death. An academy filled with the next rulers of the world and a war in Gaul about to start. You might say trouble is brewing. Rome wasn't built in a day, or so we say. But what if it was, what if powerful forces were at work, and they carried on playing their part throughout its history? Magic, monsters and people who could control them. Power is a game played out with monstrous pieces all across the ancient world and at its very heart was Rome. Despite its power and influence, the city has fallen on hard times, with wars raging across the northern lands, most men have been levied into the legions but it still isn't enough to achieve the total victory the senate want. When Iatus is pulled off the streets and put to the mage's test he knows he's probably going to die. But when he survives his encounter with a powerful demon, he starts down the path of war, murder and the endless pursuit of power.