It is the year A.D. 176; two boys leave their home town of Karanis far up the Nile and sail downriver to Alexandria on the coast. Renny has hopes of becoming a sailor and Lampon the Mouse Catcher is on a mission to persuade his father to return home from the temple of Serapis. Renny has no money for travel until he discovers a precious gem in a cave and sells it to Theodotus the Thief Catcher. Renny and Lampon sail to Alexandria, but soon after their arrival in the city they come to suspect that Theodotus has been murdered by the runaway slave Hermon. The reward for Hermons capture gives...

In A.D. 176, Renny (Eireneios) became a sailor at the age of 15 aboard a ship of the grain fleet that traveled from Alexandria to Rome. He survived a storm at sea and capture by pirates. Then his older brother Polo, a centurion, recruited him to become a 'friend of Caesar' to help snare the gang of smugglers who were using that ship. But his mission was discovered, and some gladiators who were part of the gang forced him into the equipment of a retiarius, a net-and-trident fighter, and sent him into the arena. Now he must enter into combat against the smugglers' leader, an experienced...