Mehmed II sends his elite troops into the teeth of Emperor Constantine's defenses along the city's ancient stone walls. The defenders, led by Italian soldier-of-fortune Giovanni Giustiniani, repel every attack. Mehmed's men dig underground tunnels in an attempt to shatter city walls. The tides turn against the Ottomans when a naval blockade founders.

Chef Ludo Lefebvre began his US career cooking at Los Angeles restaurant Bastide, but after it closed for renovations he opted not to return and instead chose to do things his way. Borrowing a friend’s bakery space, which was closed in the evenings, Ludo created a unique dining experience in the form of small, reservations-only, “chef’s choice” dinners. These dinners became known as LudoBites, a pop-up deemed by Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold as "a transforming moment” for the LA dining scene.

Pompey wants to find out what happened to the gold from the Roman Treasury and sends his son Quintus to Rome to find out what happened. Atia and her family have stayed behind when Pompey and others fled and she now throws a party for her triumphant uncle, Julius Caesar. She clearly has her sights set on the great leader and is puzzled when he sends her a guest list that includes Servilia of the Junii. She soon finds out why.

Inconsolable at the death of Brutus at Philippi, Servilia makes her final bid to gain the ultimate vengeance against Atia. Meanwhile, Eirene and Gaia have a major falling-out, prompting Eirene to demand that Pullo properly chastise the slave. When he does, the dynamic between the two of them changes in a violent and unexpected fashion.
King Herod engages Mark Antony as a reluctant ally by offering a generous gift of 20,000 pounds of gold.

Octavian takes a new bride, Livia, and then introduces her to his family in a startling way... by having her witness the punishment he metes out to Atia and Octavia, for secretly defying the social constraints established through the facade of Octavia's marriage to Mark Antony. The vengeful Gaia carries out her plan to poison Eirene, which produces most dire consequences for Pullo, and no one else is the wiser.
Meanwhile, Octavian, Antony, Maecenas, and their associates barely maintain their relationships of congenial contempt and hypocrisy, as everyone tries to figure out who has duped whom with the disappearance of the gold that was Herod's 'gift.'

Sultan Mehmed II's siege of Constantinople enters its third week. Mehmed's artillery teams continue their relentless bombardment of Constantinople's walls. After his navy suffers a devastating defeat, Mehmed moves his ships overland to the Golden Horn in a daring, visionary feat. In the shadow of betrayal, Giustiniani attacks the Ottoman fleet.