Herod makes a new enemy when he and Nicolaus run afoul of a well-connected trader at a caravanserai in Gaza. Near Cyprus, Arsinoë is captured by pirates. The sailors are killed & she has to reveal her royal identity, becoming a hostage for ransom. Cleopatra and Arsinoë are soon re-united, after a bloody battle with the pirates. Marc Antony sets sail for Tarsus, intending to have Cleopatra testify on Caesar's assassination. He leaves Octavian and Lepidus in charge of cleaning up Rome after the riots.

SYNOPSIS:

True to their promise to Arsinoë, Kleon and his brothers make a run for Tarsus, past the infamous north coast of Cyprus. Its fearsome reputation is soon borne out, as a pirate ship swiftly overtakes their cargo-ladened boat. This particular band of pirates is in no mood to show mercy, and they kill all three Greek sailors. Knowing that she could be raped by the entire crew, Arsinoë reveals that she is a princess in the Ptolemaic dynasty and a member of the royal court. She omits mention of the two years as prisoner in Ephesus. The pirates decide to take her to the port city of Antioch. By sheer coincidence or bad luck, Arsinoë’s sister Cleopatrais about to land at the exact same harbor.

Antipater’sfamily is reunited at Gaza, and along with Nicolausthey check into a caravanserai to overnight. Herodand his brothers will have to ride to Avdat (in the Negev desert) the following day, to deliver a message to a local magistrate. Having eaten, Herod and Nicolaus retire to the rooftop. He continues the narrative of his time with Cleopatra four years prior (in 48 BCE), and how the romance they began to form … died just as quickly as it arose. Unfortunately for Herod, it came at a price: he lost his prized falcon and a hunting dog is carelessly injured by Cleopatra’s personal bodyguard as they travel north to Scythopolis. Soon thereafter, events take a turn for the worse and Cleopatra is not on speaking terms with Herod. As he despairs the loss of the Egyptian beauty, a new woman gains his attention: the daughter of the Idumean caravan leader (Doris) that they meet along the Jordan River. Herod is torn between his feelings for both women, but chooses to let Cleopatra go.

At Antioch’s port, back in the present (=44 BCE), Cleopatra has arranged to meet with the pirates to trade gold for her captive sister Arsinoë. But she has laid a trap, and the ensuing battle results in the deaths of all the pirates and burning of their ship. Cleopatra emerges triumphant. She resolves to re-install her sister in Ephesus, and sets sail for the north.

On the rooftop of the Gaza caravanserai, Herod and Nicolaus suddenly find themselves confronted by a group of drunken men accusing them of theft of the leader’s property. Herod prepares for a fight, but his three brothers arrive just in time to tilt the odds against the strangers. leaving the roof, the leader trips and falls down the stairs, injuring his back. The next day, Antipater bewilders his sons by requesting that Herod and his brothers ferry a dozen camels with them across the desert to Avdat. The person whose job this was is none other than the assailant from the night before, now incapacitated by his injuries. Herod reluctantly agrees, out of respect for his father.