Discovering the truth about your mother's sordid past can be troubling. If you're the new Emperor of Rome, it can be downright terrifying. Rome's ruling Augusta is rumored to be weak. It is said that she is under the thumb of her powerful master of soldiers, Aetius. But few know the real Galla Placidia, a cunning and ruthless adversary capable of holding together a crumbling Empire long enough to hand it off to her son. Placidius is on his way to Constantinople where he will emerge from behind his mother's twelve-year regency to assume his full power as emperor. En route, he comes into possession of a letter allegedly written by her. It lays out the incredible true story of her life, from her kidnapping by a barbarian king, through the scandal that drove her into exile, to her tempestuous romance with a dashing yet power-hungry rogue whose presence has complicated both their lives. Now Galla Placidia wants to prepare her son for the trials ahead, but Placidius is suspicious. Is the letter real, or is someone trying to manipulate him? Only time will tell, and, as they draw closer to Constantinople, murder and treachery ensue. Is his mother the woman he thinks she is, or is she someone else altogether?