No good deed goes unpunished. Marcus Corvinus, the party-boy of ancient Rome, hasn’t committed many good deeds, but his most recent (see Ovid) was a doozy. And sure enough, here comes punishment. Why else would he have been summoned to see the Empress Livia, never his biggest fan. For now, however, Livia has a job for Corvinus: Her darling grandson, Germanicus, heir-presumptive to the throne, has been most foully murdered, and Livia will not rest until Corvinus finds the killer. Corvinus is glad to oblige, since he’d like to continue breathing. But word on the Appian Way is that Livia herself ordered her grandson’s death.