The gladiatorial Games didn’t just happen. They had to be made.

Rome, 80 AD. They called it the Flavian Amphitheatre. We call it the Colosseum. It showcased brutal gladiatorial combats, exotic wild animal hunts, naval battles and the re-enactment of extraordinary mythological adventures. But someone had to make the Games happen, from sourcing celebrity gladiators and dangerous animals, to ordering sand for the arena floor and working out how to flood the Colosseum.

Marcus, manager of the Games, grief-stricken from the loss of his wife and child in Pompeii’s fiery destruction. Althea, his scribe, trying to find her way in the world as a freedwoman. An ex prostitute. A retired Vestal Virgin. A runaway slave boy. Life, love and loyal friendships in a crumbling apartment block in a shabby part of Rome.

Get your backstage pass to the Colosseum’s Games: join the team as they serve two unpredictable emperors through fire, water, earth and air, putting on spectacular shows to please the masses and living out their lives in the shadow of the greatest amphitheatre ever built.