American ne'er-do-well Joe January is hired to take Paul Bonnard on an expedition into the desert in search of treasure.

Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

On seaside holiday, Nero, Poppea, Seneca and their friends and family prepare a great show where Nero will star. When his mother Agrippina arrives with her German praetorians and decides Nero has to conquer Britain, she's asking for trouble. Many attempts of murder and poisoning will happen on the eve of his great show.