A Genius Performance by Andrew Sachs! On a cold Venetian night shortly before Christmas, a man is killed in a scuffle in Campo San Stefano. The dead man was working as a v- cumpr-, one of the many Black Africans selling goods on the street without a work permit. At first glance, Commissario Brunetti is at a loss to understand why anyone would kill an illegal immigrant. As Brunetti starts to investigate the murky...
Rome, AD 34: Vespasian is serving as a military officer on the outskirts of the Empire. But political events in Rome - Tiberius's increasing debauchery, the escalating grain crisis - draw him back to the city. When Caligula becomes Emperor, Vespasian believes that things will improve. Instead, the young emperor deteriorates from Rome's shining star to a blood-crazed, incestuous, all-powerful madman.