An average Joe becomes the poster boy for a book about Jesus due to his Christ-like appearance, but his meek and good-hearted nature ends up clashing with the publisher's earthly-minded motives.
Adapted from the mock-heroic poem in Roman dialect, tells the misadventures of the young trasteverino Bartolomeo Patacca that, because of the ambition of his woman, is having to train a group of beggars to go fight in defense of Christianity in Vienna, besieged by the Turks.
Carlo, a young doctor, occasionally meets Anna, the daughter of professor Valli. Carlo falls in love with Anna, who returns his feelings; but her father longs a brilliant marriage for her.
