Rome, 12 A.D. As darkness reigns over the Palatine Hill, a rumbling ox cart stops before the temple of Victory. A man in an augur's striped toga removes its famous statue. He says it's for a procession, but the Victory disappears not to be seen again.Augustus is furious. Rome wants its Victory back. At first, Alexander thinks little of it. He's a Jew, so a Roman goddess has nothing to do with him. Then a Jewish art dealer is arrested for stealing the statue. As the man's patron, Alexander decides he must find the Victory if he is to free his client. Seeking the stolen statue, however, soon becomes a very dangerous pursuit. At Alexander's side are his boyhood friends Claudius the emperor's ill-loved nephew, Rutilus the poorest patrician in Rome, and Agrippa a Jewish prince and a bit of a rogue. Standing in their way is an elite group of Praetorian guards who don't want the art dealer freed. In fact, they don't seem to want the Victory to be found. But why? Alexander's desperate search for answers takes him from the emperor's palace to the sewer underbelly of Rome. Underneath it all is a sense of urgency for Alexander has been recalled to Alexandria and must leave in days -- no matter how much he doesn't want to leave his home, his friends ... or her. --***-- A Toga of a Different Color is the first in a series about Alexander the Alabarch. Alexander was an historical person, the real life friend of the Emperor Claudius, in-law of King Agrippa of Judea, guardian for Marc Antony's daughter Antonia Minor, and one the most notable Jews of the early Roman Empire.