 The book starts with a historical prologue in which Julius Venator, a Roman, along with a group of Roman soldiers and slaves, sail in a fleet of ships ferrying the treasures from the Library of Alexandria before its destruction to a secret location to be buried in caverns.After the treasures are buried the people, the Roman soldiers, and slaves are all slaughtered by the natives.While one small ship manages to get away, they never reach land and the secret of the treasure is lost.