Justinian's attempt to harness Rome's holy authority had all but destroyed it. The papacy had hit its lowest point, and the city would follow. The Eastern Empire struggled to hold Italy. Within less than a generation another Germanic tribe had its sights on Rome. The Lombards marched south, first plundering, then settling. By 590, Rome was desperate and battle-scarred. Rome's aqueducts, the embodiment of imperial might, were left to crumble, the city's vital water supplies seeping away. Impoverished and starving, its population reduced to 90,000, the once-glorious capital was now just a beleaguered outpost on the fringes of Empire. Rome needed a new hero, and the Pope was the only and last person who could save the city. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Gregory was a super-rich aristocrat who had already served as city prefect, in effect, Mayor of Rome. But the messy business of politics disgusted him and he suffered an existential crisis.


查士丁尼大帝决定将罗马的神圣权利握在自己手心。他做到了这一点，却也毁了它。此时教皇的号召力跌倒最低点，紧接着罗马作为基督教中枢地位不保。东罗马帝国试图掌控意大利。不到十年，又一个日耳曼部落把目光瞄准了罗马。伦巴蒂人的军队向南推进。先是抢掠，接着驻军。590年，罗马陷入绝境，战火纷飞。罗马的城市管道和帝国权力的象征皆被摧毁，罗马城的主要供水系统渗漏情况十分严重。战争导致了贫困和饥饿，罗马的人口锐减到90，000人。罗马，帝国之都，拥有多么辉煌灿烂的过去，如今却被敌军围困，成了帝国边缘抵御敌军入侵的前哨。罗马亟需英雄拯救，如今，教皇成了可以拯救这座城市的唯一一人。乱世出英雄。格里高利，出生于罗马一个特别富有的贵族之家，担任罗马市长一职。而此时罗马城中混乱如麻的政治现状容不下他，他有死亡之忧。