In 49 B.C., a civil war between the forces loyal to Pompey and Julius Caesar has engulfed the Roman world and no one is allowed to be neutral. With Rome itself in turmoil, Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son, Meto, who lately has been acting as a double agent for Caesar. In search of the truth about Meto's fate, Gordianus journeys to the besieged seaport of Massilia, which has sided with Pompey and is now stubbornly holding out against Caesar's troops camped just outside its gates and in ships in the harbor.Using his wits, Gordianus discovers a way past the siege troops and into Massilia. But once there he finds that famine and slaughter threaten the populace, and intrigue and recriminations have taken over the city that cannot hope to stand up much longer against the troops outside the walls. His only friend is Hieronymus, the doomed scapegoat chosen by the priests of Artemis to bear the sins of the population and save them from annihilation. When Gordianus witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in finding out what exactly happened - did she fall or was she pushed? - and where, in all of this, is the truth about his missing son. Read Less