The Greek Glaucus lives around 79 AD in Pompeii and leads a fluttering life there together with other nouveau riche and nobles. Until he meets Ione, who is a ward of the Egyptian Isispriest Arbaces. At this point Glaucus changes his life radically and gets caught in a maelstrom of conflicting faiths and admirers vying for his favour, which leads him to the arena under false suspicion and sentenced to death. Will Ione return his love and can Glaukus free himself from the swamp of intrigues? But in the meantime, an overwhelming danger arises: Vesus threatens to swallow the entire city.

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton war ein englischer Romanautor und Politiker des 19. Jahrhunderts. Er lebt von 1803 - 1873.