Capua, in the years after Rome opened its great amphitheatre. The gladiator Ferox has won twenty-nine bouts, and his master has sworn the thirtieth will earn him the wooden sword of freedom. Then the program is read out: Ferox against Brennus, the old Gaul who taught him to fight, to the death. Tonight, as the others feast, Ferox sits locked in the dark. A grim historical drama of sweat and sand, where death is the arena's trade.