Dida, a young and beautiful maiden awakens by the Tiber River with no knowledge of where she is or more importantly, who she is. All she has is a gold band around her neck with a pendant inscribed with her name on it, a few newly burn wounds on her body, and the will of the gods. With no hope or the faintest idea what to do, the gods send Dida a sign, a slave woman named Lavinia.

Lavinia, tasked with the chore of washing her mistress’ clothes, drops her basket at the sight of Dida, mistaking her for the Goddess Venus herself. After rushing to the aid of the distressed girl, she realizes the beauty does not belong to a divine being, but instead to a lost and hopeless soul. Her motherly spirit takes the broken girl under her wing and Dida becomes a slave, slowly realizing that her beauty becomes both a blessing and a curse.

Fabia, the mistress of the household, soon becomes intensely furious when she finds out her son, Porcius, has found an interest in Dida. Crazed at the idea of her son marrying a slave, she sells Dida to a new family, and sends her away from her son. But not before Porcius’ friend, Evander, also falls in love with her and secretly courts her without his friend’s knowledge.

Heartbroken at his love being torn away from him, Evander searches for Dida, while Dida searches for her identity. Her mysterious background tortures her as does her new master’s lustful advances, and she runs away into the hills of Rome. There she finds answers she’s not sure she wanted to know after all.