More humor and historical friction from the author of "No Roads Lead to Rome " 123 A.D. Saturnalia-the winter festival where slaves become masters and masters, slaves - is in full, raucous swing. Gaius Severus, a young misfit searching for love, identity and breakfast is working a dull job as a security guard when the worst governor in the Roman Empire is accidentally overthrown and a band of female pirates takes over the town. While Severus stumbles through dark rites of passage and near-fatal coming of age adventures, his feisty girlfriend finds her true calling as a seer and his dissident brother transforms a quest for a holy relic into a comic attempt to overthrow the emperor. The gods forsaken Spanish capital of Tarraco is turned upside down by a cast of corrupt officials, disgruntled ex-gladiators, and rogue praetorians. History repeats, again as the decline and fall of damn near everything continues in this standalone sequel to "No Roads Lead to Rome."