The Italian writer Raffaello Giovagnoli (1838–1915) penned several fascinating novels dedicated to the life of Ancient Rome, including Messalina and Opimia. The beautiful and power-hungry Roman patrician Messalina dreams of becoming an empress. In order to achieve her goal, she is ready to bestow affection on both the young warrior and the old moneylender, turn to the witch for a potion, and arrange a conspiracy. Her element is intrigue and intrigue, and she manages to achieve her goal when the cruel, greedy and immoral ruler Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula, becomes the victim of a conspiracy. 216 BC. The Roman Republic is on the verge of complete defeat. Hannibal's invincible army inflicts one defeat after another on the Roman troops. The young priestess of the temple of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire, the Vestal Opimia, saves Lucius Cantilius from execution, who is destined by fate to put an end to the bloody war.