Enemy of All Mankind

At just sixteen, JULIUS CAESAR's privileged life has already been decided on by his abusive father, GAIUS. But when civil war erupts in Rome, the nobility are executed in retribution, and Gaius is murdered, Julius flees Rome, leaving his pregnant wife, CORNELIA, and his mother, AURELIA, behind. Fearing for his life, Julius travels East, hoping to stay with a Greek King and family friend with ties to the Caesars. Julius hides amongst the army, but when he saves the life of a Greek Fisherman named Damar, his kindness reveals his true identity to a Roman Commander. Captured and tortured, Julius is sent back to Rome, where he will be executed. But on the return voyage, Julius is kidnapped by pirates. The pirate captain, ERTEK, ransoms Julius back to Rome, but his family has been stripped of their titles and wealth. With nothing to pay for Julius' ransom, Aurelia convinces Cornelia that the only way to save Julius is to divorce her son and marry the tyrannical dictator who attacked Rome, SULLA, who seeks a young bride. The longer she delays, the greater the risk to her, Julius, and her unborn child. Julius persuades Ertek to visit King Nicomedes of Bithynia to pay his ransom. But Nicomedes is now a servant of Sulla and betrays Julius and the pirates, who barely escape with their lives. The survivors hold out on an uncharted island while they wait on a ransom that may never arrive. As supplies run low and tempers run high. Julius is caught between an increasingly hostile Ertek and pirates who blame Rome for driving them to piracy. Worse, Julius is taunted by the ghost of his father, Gaius, who belittles him for not standing up for himself and leaving his family to die. In Rome, Cornelia visits Sulla, seemingly to do as Aurelia suggests, promising to marry Sulla in exchange for Julius' life, but when Sulla discovers Cornelia is pregnant, she kills him. With Sulla dead, Julius can return home, and Aurelia gathers his ransom in secret from those still loyal to the Caesars. Abandoned in Miletus, Julius rallies the citizens in a fiery speech. They capture and execute the pirates, the last of Julius' boyhood dying along with them. Julius returns to Rome only to learn Cornelia died in childbirth. Reunited with Aurelia, Julius is celebrated as a hero. Mourning the loss of his wife and hardened by his crucible, Julius embarks on a new military career, following in his father's footsteps.