Alysia of Athens, daughter of a wealthy physician, is taken from her home and sold into slavery when her father is accused of treason during the turbulent reign of Tiberius Caesar. She is purchased by Paulus Valerius, a powerful Roman legate who pierces through her determination to hate her captors. Paulus' stepbrother, Lucius, wants her for himself but when he's thwarted time and again he sets up a deadly situation that forces her to flee from Rome. When she finds herself in the battle-torn land of Palestine she has an encounter with a man named Jesus, and her life is forever changed.