Novelization of the screenplay by Carmen Culver, adapted from the novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton for a CBS miniseries in 1984 starring Olivia Hussey, Lesley Anne-Down, Nicholas Clay, and Franco Nero. They were nobles and gladiators, courtesans and slaves - citizens of the mightiest empire the world had ever known. They had wealth beyond imaginging, power without limit - and pleasures that would be forbidden to all who came after. In the spring o fthe year A.D. 79, they intrigued for position, grappled for love, and - on the blood-soaked sands of the Colosseum - battled for life itself...unaware of the fiery doom the gods held in store. Glaucus--His looks, wealth, and lineage made him welcome in the centers of power...in the beds of Pompeii's most desirable women. But the one woman he wanted could cost him his life. Ione--Beautiful, sheltered, and pledged to the goddess Isis. Passion made her question if she was truly priestess or prisoner. Lydon--Gladiator, champion of a thousand combats, he hid the secret that could doom him to certain death. Clodius--Poet, master of words, love made him speechless and jealousy would make him a traitor. Julia--Raised in luxury, yet he would deny her father, her gods, her heritage, to embrace an outcast love. Arbaces--High priest of Isis. His goddess had made him wealthy, powerful, and a master of deceit. Now he'd make himself master of Pompeii...even at the cost of a thousand lives!