Set in 48 A.D. ten-year-old peasant boy Messala loses his father to a Roman military commander over an outstanding debt. One morning he finds his village massacred, and soon flees the country with his mother Sophia, leaving behind his two friends, Sarah, a little Jewish girl, and Nero, the heir to the throne. Twenty years later Messala returns home, avenges his father and accidentally rids the court of its worst enemy. In her gratitude Nero's mother, Agrippina, has him released from jail and re-united with her son. Later, Messala encounters Sarah and falls for her. She tries to discourage him from pursuing her, but Messala is persistent. A traumatic incident in the city of Capua, however, brings them closer together. Agrippina then turns up at the house Messala is staying at and finds Sarah alone and passed out in bed. A branding on her skin reveals her hidden secret... she is a Christian. In Rome Agrippina tries to seduce Messala because he reminds her of a past love. When he rejects her, she threatens him with imprisonment over his association with Sarah. Messala finds himself in a race against time to save himself and the love of his life from dying on the cross. 'The Golden House' is a heart-breaking tale that resonates with today's world, with an ending that will forever burn into the audience's memory at home and worldwide.