In the aftermath of the battle of Actium, Mark Antony returns to Alexandria, settling into a world of numbing debauchery with Cleopatra. Meanwhile, Octavian turns to Pullo to try to convince Vorenus to give up Cleopatra's palace in lieu of a fiery siege. Predictably, Vorenus refuses, but Cleopatra seems all too willing to dupe Mark Antony in order to save her life, if not her honor.

A ferocious lover of life, possessing the courage and loyalty of a warrior, but the morality of a pirate. A man of huge appetites and wild passions. Impulsive, unreflective, optimistic, conceited, generous, and brutal.

Rome is facing a dire shortage of grain, forcing Octavian to barter with Mark Antony to get new shipments sent from Egypt. But instead of agreeing to Octavian's price--money and territory--Mark Antony flatly turns him down, pointing towards an inevitable conflict between the two former allies and, perhaps, Vorenus and Pullo. As a last resort, Octavian sends Atia and Octavia to Alexandria, knowing their reception will most likely be a chilly one. At the Collegium, where Pullo is rationing out grain to increasingly restless Romans, Gaia saves her master from a caged animal's wrath, but can't save herself. After fleeing a deteriorating situation in Egypt, Posca gives Octavian the ammunition he needs to turn the people against Mark Antony, setting in motion the wheels of war.