With the fall of Carthage, Manae takes up Rome's offer to serve as a rower on the quinquereme 'Avis'. After ten years at the oars he is free to quit the ship and sets out to find the only surviving member of the family lost to him during the savage slaughter of the city.
So begins a journey that cruelly educates the young Manae into the devious snares and deceptions of Rome's Hispania. Beaten, robbed and imprisoned he escapes to find murder and rape is his only companion as he flees. Not until he meets the beautiful Livia, daughter of a Roman officer, do things begin to change for Manae.
But Hispania is facing a bloody uprising against the invasive Legions of Rome and the rebellious Celtic tribes are rampaging through the countryside. Manae and Livia must make their way to safety on a perilous journey that leads the Carthaginian into a confrontation with the sins of his past and places his most treasured possessions at risk.