Among rulers there were many great and many insignificant, but virtuous, only a few—one of them being the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. Perhaps that’s why it fell to Antoninus Pius to face an unusual confrontation—an encounter with shadows. But these aren’t shadows that symbolize empty fears. The shadows creeping toward the Eternal City are the first harbingers of rebellion and civil war. And with them, in Rome appears a mysterious and dangerous sect, whose members, if rumors are to be believed, can turn into shadows and influence other people’s minds.