A noble Roman, bored with his life, sees a slave dance and they fall in love. Before they can consummate their passion, his wife has the slave killed and he drinks the same poison as she.
This early Albert Cappelani film explores the sort of romantic ideas he would pursue throughout his career. However, it is filled with all the non-cinematic bits that were only beginning to vanish at this point in film's evolution: stagy acting, unrealistic sets, obvious bounding by the theater's proscenium arch and a corps de ballet that dances in a way that might have pleased the audience, but now looks very old-fashioned and pointless.
No one else was doing much better at this point. Certainly Cappelani's editing technique was highly advanced for the era and he would be one of the most venturesome directors through the middle of the next decade. This one, however, is interesting only because it is early Cappelani.
