The body slave of a violent and perverse aristocrat, Apollonius dreams of murdering the Roman senator who engineered the fall of his wealthy family. When he is befriended by a mysterious physician from Thessaly, a man reputed to be a magician, Apollonius finally gets his chance to avenge his family. With dizzying rapidity, Apollonius is swept into the dreamlike world of his enigmatic benefactor. He discovers that the physician from Thessaly is no ordinary mortal man, but is instead an ancient blood drinker named Gon, a 30,000 year old vampire. Taken to Pompeii to live in his new master's sprawling villa, Apollonius finds himself torn between his desire to be an immortal, and his feelings for his neighbor's daughter, the beautiful and headstrong Julia Varus. Set against the backdrop of Pompeii's final days, Apollonius is a novel of innocence and evil, revenge and sacrifice, and the tragedy of a doomed love.