诺曼人将拜占庭敌人赶跑了。在被迫割让西西里岛后，巴塞勒斯恢复了他以前声名狼藉的斯特拉古斯，马尼亚基斯，以阻止诺曼人的征服。被卷入这些政治阴谋的是一对军阀:前诺曼公爵罗伯特和凶猛可怕的瓦兰根人领袖哈拉尔德。他们在战斗中结下的友谊，如今在和平时期摇摇欲坠。罗伯特质疑自己对复仇的追求，而哈拉尔德则不信任他的顾问似乎缺乏决心。新爱诞生，旧爱重燃。与此同时，教皇从罗马计划，派遣间谍和刺客…
The Normans have their Byzantine enemies on the run. After being forced to cede Sicily, the Basileus is resorts to reinstating his formerly disgraced Strategos, Maniakis, to stem the Norman conquest. Caught up in these political machinations are a pair of warlords: Robert, a former Norman duke, and Harald, leader of the fierce and feared Varangians. Their friendship, forged in the heat of battle, now falters in peacetime. Robert questions his own quest for vengeance, while Harald mistrusts his advisor's seeming lack of resolve. New loves are born and old ones rekindled. Meanwhile, the Pope schemes from Rome, dispatching spies and assassins...
