Jonathan Marcus, a young American lawyer and a former doctoral student in classics, has become a sought-after commodity among antiquities dealers. When summoned to Rome to examine an ancient stone map, he stumbles across a startling secret that propels him on a perilous journey in search of a hidden 2,000-year-old artifact sought by empires throughout the ages. As he and Dr. Emili Travia dig deeper into the past, they're stunned to discover not only an ancient intelligence operation to protect the artifact, but also a ruthless modern plot to destroy all trace of it.