Joyce Redrose is one of Rome's number one socialite's. She was born not in the marvelous city but in the land of the Celts. She was born to the chief to once of the most powerful and and feared clans in all of the north so powerful that the might of Rome did not dare to cross him. Her father, being a sensible ruler, did allow trading with the Romans which was headed by his friend the ambassador Drako Leone. From an early age, Joyce was a friendly and warm hearted person always wanting to make people happy; it is a trait that would be essential for the wife of the next chief; but fate intervened in a cruel way.

When she was only 11 years old, her father was brutally assassinated by a jealous rival seeking to gain his power. With the death of the chief, the entire clan became embroiled in a deadening power struggle that would have meant the end of Joyce. That is if it hadn't been for Drako Leone. Before the constrictors had time to strike, he spirited Joyce away in a trading caravan, she was whisked away and sent to Londinum to be cared for by a friend until she was able to return. When she got back he took her with him back to Rome where he would raise his friends daughter as his own.

As Joyce was growing into adulthood she grew to revile and relish roman culture. She followed the trends and fashions of the time, loved to attend the Gladiator matches and the theater, and never missed a chance to attend a social function. Eventually she decided to become a socialite, so to that end she married a army officer to ingratiate herself into Roman society. But unfortunately for Joyce her husband died in combat. She did not, however, let that spoil her dream and became an liaison to the city and now one of Rome's leading socialites alongside her son Sam and under the watchful eye of her nephew, Cato Leone.