Rome, AD 3–5. Gaius has died and Tiberius has been banished to Rhodes for his mistreatment of Julia, who in his absence has a series of hedonistic affairs and orgies. One day in the garden, the young Claudius catches a wolf cub dropped from an eagle's claws, leading a seer to predict that he will protect Rome in an hour of need. Livia's scheming continues: knowing of the mutual attraction between Claudius's sister Livilla and Julia's son Postumus Agrippa, she arranges their betrothal to other people; she enlists Lucius's friend Plautius as a spy against Julia, and tricks Lucius into revealing Julia's infidelities. A grief-stricken Augustus banishes her from Rome. The death of Lucius in a boating accident (implied to be caused by Plautius on Livia's orders) ends Tiberius's exile, and he returns to Rome to be named, along with Julia's surviving son Postumus, as co-heir to Augustus' throne.
