Leopoldo Carlucci

The singer Cécile Hervey celebrates great achievements, while her sister Elda lives quietly with her aunt Claire on land. Elda is engaged to neighbor Bruno Leveson, but is irresistibly attracted by his brother Raoul, which she will marry. Raoul cheats on her, even before the marriage, with her sister Cecile.

Teodora, a Roman courtesan and former slave girl, marries the Roman emperor Justinian and assumes the throne as Empress of Rome. But a love affair with a handsome Greek whom she meets in Byzantium leads to revolution and armed conflict in both Byzantium and Rome.