Rome, 48 BC. A young woman known as Cassandra, reputed to possess prophetic powers, dies in Gordianus’s arms in the Forum. She had moved among several of Rome’s most influential women, each of whom may have used her predictions for private or political purposes.
As Caesar and Pompey fight beyond Italy, rumour and uncertainty dominate the capital. Gordianus reconstructs Cassandra’s concealed past and relationships, discovering that her murder is connected to the ambitions and fears of families waiting to learn which side will return victorious.