 In the novel, Capito performs his curse, which plunges the city into mass panic, and then disappears mysteriously.The Romans perform religious rites to expunge the curse, and the protagonist, Decius Metellus, is charged with finding and arresting Capito.Eventually, Decius discovers that Capito has been suborned by King Ptolemy XII Auletes of Egypt, who wanted revenge on Crassus for voting against Ptolemy's request for a Roman military expedition to reinstate him to the Egyptian throne.