ItwastheageofDaVinciandMichelangelo,ofenlightenedcreativityandunparalleledintellectualachievementButitwasalsotheageofMachievelli,oframpantlawlessness,incessantwarandunspeakabledepravityAttheheartoftheworldorderwastheVatican,thearbiterofconflictsbetweenkingdomsandempiresAndatthecenteroftheVaticanwasamanwhosequestforpowerwouldpropelhimtoseektheultimateprize,theholyseeofRomeHewasamanwhosenamewouldbecomesynonymouswithruthlessness,andwhosereignaspopewouldberememberedasthemostinfamouschapterofthehistoryoftheCatholicchurchRodrigoBorgiaHisfourchildrenJuan,theoldest,aprideful,lazy,unscrupuloussexualpredator,Cesare,ayoungmantornbetweenafaiththatwasnothiscallingandhisdarkviolentnature,Lucretia,ayounggirldiscoveringthesecretpowerthatawomen'ssexualityholds