Based on a true story.
Ancient Rome. Countess MALDRA, obsessively driven to control the world through the Roman Empire and the church, uses her power to appoint and murder Popes regularly. With her son as Emperor, Maldra needs to find a pope she can easily manipulate in her quest to control Europe and beyond.
However, the Roman Empire have had enough. They appoint a new Papal Guard Captain, ADRIANUS, to investigate, find those responsible and put an end to the papal deaths.
When Maldra finds a village clergyman she can manipulate, she appoints him pope. Her obsession escalates as she arranges to put a dead ex-Pope on trial for past crimes against the church. Her Emperor son cannot reason with her – he is fast losing control of his own staff.
Adrianus and the Roman Empire are powerless to stop the trial going ahead but attend incognito. They and the public gallery are then witness to Maldra’s insanity…she ordered the ex-Pope’s dead body to be dug up from its grave, dressed in papal robes and propped up on a papal throne as the accused.
With her newly appointed Pope Stephen acting as her prosecuting puppet, the trial proceeds. During the course of the trial, Maldra and Pope Stephen lose control of their initially captivated audience with their accusations and blasphemous actions. The trial disintegrates into a chaotic melee lead by a bloody battle between Adrianus’ Papal Guards and Maldra’s Palace Guards. Amidst the fighting, and with the help of her henchman,