[clarification needed] Carmine Crocco (Enrico Lo Verso) is an outlaw native of Rionero in Vulture (Basilicata), who was forced to the bandit's life after killing a man who had harassed his sister.

He joined Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies hoping for a pardon, because the Savoy's government promised to forgive deserters in exchange for military service.

The brigand and his men conquer the Vulture region in the name of king Francis II, gaining the support of the local population.

The repression is cruel; Cialdini orders the shooting of the brigands and anyone who deals with them, mass killings (where even women and children are not spared) and confiscation of basic necessities.

Meanwhile, the Bourbon government in exile sends the Spanish General José Borjes (Francesco Mazzini) to Basilicata, to reinforce and discipline the bands.

would attribute this to its "low earning" at the box office, others, such as the writer Lorenzo Del Boca, known for his revisionist books about the Italian unification, stated that It was boycotted to be watched by as few people as possible.