A continuation of a story started in the drama "With Clean Hands" (1972).
A newly hired engineer is also an amateur boxing star. He also dreams of becoming an actor. He is pushed in different directions, he also wants to get married.
The great King of Dacia, Decebal (Decebalus), is disposed to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to keep the integrity of his people. His own son, Cotyso, is given to the god Zamolxis to the dismay of the King and his daughter Meda. Septimius Severus a young roman devoted to his adopted country, must make the choose between his blood origins and the culture he was raised to
Vulpașin is desperatley in love with Nastasia, but she is partial to Luca, which works at a factory outside the slum they live in ("accros the lifting gate").