Rome at the turn of the 16th century-a city of

opulence, violence, intrigue, and lust-the

worldly and decadent "City of God." This is

the Rome of the Borgias, where Pope Alex-

ander VI holds court with his mistress, the

divine Giulia, at his side; where his daughter

Lucrezia, twice-widowed at the age of twenty,

consoles herself (it is said) in her brother s

arms; where the once lovely and powerful

Caterina Sforza now keeps company with rats

in the putrid dungeons of Sant Angelo, await-

ing her freedom-or the garrotte; where each

restless night conceals extravagant amuse-

ments, dangerous trysts, and murderous be-

trayals along the dark banks of the Tiber;

where Spanish, French, and Papal forces plot

and counterplot for control of the cities and

wealth of Italy.

The great warlord Cesare Borgia-the

Pope s illegitimate son-marches his army

through Tuscany and Umbria, using pillage,

extortion, and terror to consolidate the Papal

holdings. Secretly in Cesare s employ, and the

hidden genins behind certain of his most out-

rageous exploits, is the strange, compelling

figure of Nicholas Dawson: secretary to the

Florentine ambassador, spy for the Borgias,

go-between for the Spaniards, brilliant politi-

cal tactician, instinctual opportunist--a man of

great ability, little real achievement, and no

true allegiance.