The years is 304 A.D., and former cavalry officer, governmental representative, and historian Aelius Spartianus has been sent to the province of Egypt by Emperor Diocletian to research what really happened to Antinous, the gay lover of a previous emperor named Hadrian, as part of a new biography of Hadrian.

Having served in Egypt years earlier during a period of discontent, Aelius is already familiar with the area and many of the majore players in the community. Things really start to get interesting when Anitnous' death is mirrored by a similar death suffered by a many he knews a a supplier for the cavalry while Aelius is the area. Before long, our protagonist finds himself weaving his way though the local gay community, the vibrant Christians community that is being officially persecuted, and a group of Jewish folks ready to revolt

Aelius turns to former friends and compatriots in the area with the hopes of finding more information about the thistoric death as well as the modern on.

I tend to like period pieces. I just like being drawn back into a former era and learn about it as characters experience whatever life has to offer them. In this case, the characters are quite interesting, and the mysteries keep you wanting to know what happened. The problem is that everything is weighed down by simply too much writing, which is suprising since the novel was so short. It was not the length of the tale, but the dense narrative format that was used in writing it. I am glad that I read it, but I am definitely not interested enough to want to read the further adventures of Aelius.