The film relates the story of the garage mechanic Ben-Hur Marcel, also known as Aminemephet (Coluche), who gets wrapped up organizing a plot against Caesar (Michel Serrault).

In this parody of peplum, peopled with anachronisms, a garage mechanic for carts, Ben-Hur Marcel finds himself unwillingly representative of the union against the Roman army.

Caught up in a story of a plot against a homosexual Caesar and interested only in his hairstyle and the drape of his toga, Ben-Hur Marcel finds himself embroiled in a political embarrassment towards ancient Egypt and its queen, Cleopatra VII, decked out in an accent of the Parisian suburbs.

At first glance, the satire is aimed first at state power which presents all the usual flaws: liar, cynical, manipulator, contemptuous, hateful, but also fearful: "Citizens, we can do nothing for the moment ...

The film ends with an involuntary ironic retort from Ben-Hur Marcel: “The birth of a child in a stable won't change the face of the world!"