Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula, a name synonymous with decadence, cruelty and madness. Rufus as a young slave grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial arena, and Rufus discovers that he has a natural ability with animals, a talent for controlling and schooling them. It is his growing reputation as an animal trainer that attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor, who wants a keeper for the imperial elephant. Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the imperial palace where life is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods. Caligula is as generous as he is cruel, he is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god and simultaneously lives in constant fear of the plots against his life. But his paranoia is not misplaced. Intrigue permeates his court, and Rufus and his friend Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.