A family secret, a powerful talisman, and an ancient prophesy: Rome's emperor believed he possessed Egypt after Queen Cleopatra died, but Egypt had always been possessed by its past.

After the Roman Augustus wrested Egypt from Cleopatra in 31 BC, people up and down the Nile believed a savior possessing a magical device would return to Memphis to topple the "place being built" and rid Egypt of its brutal occupiers.

Mithra, a teenage scholar in Alexandria, Egypt in 10 AD, is unaware that her father, Lord Weni, is Cleopatra's surviving son. When the secret is exposed, Mithra becomes a worshiped figure along the Nile and the greatest threat the Roman Empire has ever faced. Emperor Augustus must deal with Mithra's supernatural, religious, and political power lest he lose control of the vital Egyptian grain harvests that feed Rome.