Rome A.D. 81. The screams of his admirers echo across the crowded Colosseum as the gladiator Vulpus brings another opponent to the point of death. Wounds gape, blood seeps into the burning sand and the mob howls for the kill. Vulpus raises his sword. And freezes. For the man before him is no stranger. And the gladiator's thoughts turn inwards, back eight years to the sunbaked hill fortress of fearful repute. Back to Masada...