Emperor Trajan is dead, long live Emperor Hadrian!Gaius Petreius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in the most inclement outpost of the Roman Empire - Britannia. His arrival in Deva (more commonly known as Chester) does little to improve his mood and, after a straight thirty-six hours on the wards in the Fort, he succumbs to a moment of insanity and rescues injured slave girl, Tilla. Little does he realize how this one act is going to bring nothing but trouble and far too much interaction with the irritating locals, who will insist on killing each other...