Africanus is a beautiful North African girl enslaved by Rome from an early age and then given a chance to train at a 'ludus' for a career as a gladiatrix. Her owner's business affairs depend on her success in the arena but immediately she becomes the centre of a web of deceit. The treacherous slave girl Nydia spies on her. The lady Octavia, wife of her owner is having a torrid affair with the games sponsor and the creditors are closing in on the ludus. Filled with all the decadence, sex and danger of life in ancient Rome, the first instalment of Africanus' adventures is a headily erotic read in the best traditions of Silver Moon books.