An accidental discovery of an intact lead sarcophagus in an ancient Roman cemetery outside of Rome mystifies archaeologists. Upon examination, they find seven intact scrolls they believe were written by the first emperor of Rome, Caesar Augustus. A team of the finest archaeologists is assembled to translate the autobiography of Caesar Augustus, which the scholars name The Augustus Project. As the story unfolds, history is rewritten as the words of Augustus are revealed and the reader is transported back to a time in Ancient Rome during the first century B.C. where civil war raged and chaos ruled and a man born Octavius defies all odds to become the first emperor of Rome.