Two rival chieftains have been elected to govern a little village in ancient Gaul ' and a ditch dug through the village divides it, literally, into a party of the left and a party of the right. But the son and daughter of the two chieftains are in love. Histrionix and the beautiful Melodrama have more sense than their fathers, and call in Asterix, Obelix and the druid Getafix to sort out the political wrangling.

What with the intriguing of the sinister traitor Codfix, who wants to marry Melodrama himself, the Gauls' work is cut out for them ' can they persuade the star-crossed lovers' village to reunite against the threat of Julius Caesar's Roman legionaries? Getafix brews some interesting new magic potions to help'