CALAVIA
Captured by Roman legionaries and torn from her peaceful life in the Umbrian hills, Calavia Megella is thrust into the brutal world of the slave markets. Alongside other women from across the Empire — from the wild Armorican warrior Vergilia to the calculating Laelia — she is purchased by Manius Urgulanius Cyricus, a wealthy noble with a taste for exotic spectacles. At his secluded estate of Tentyra, the women are trained in the degrading art of oil wrestling, destined to perform for the amusement of Rome’s elite. As Calavia struggles to endure the physical trials and public humiliations, she forges a wary alliance with Vergilia, discovering resilience and cunning in the face of cruelty. Beneath the opulence lies a dangerous undercurrent of rebellion, and when the Emperor’s visit offers both peril and opportunity, the women must decide whether to play their captor’s game — or shatter it entirely, risking everything for a chance at freedom.