This is the story of Julia, a young Roman noblewoman who falls prey to the harsh justice of the Empire. At the tender age of nineteen she rejects the lecherous advances of an older man and accidentally strikes him while trying to avoid his pawing hands. Unfortunately, he is a high-ranking judge who uses his power to condemn Julia to death. Despite her noble blood she is sentenced to be crucified like a common criminal. She narrowly escapes this terrible fate when a shortage of galley slaves brings her to the great port of Brundisium. Arriving at a grim naval prison her dignity falls away when she is stripped, whipped and brutally ravished.

Julia soon finds herself among other female captives on the oar-deck of the Colchis, a private galley owned by her childhood friend Drusilla Placidia. The two young aristocrats have not seen each other for many years and Julia is shocked to discover that Drusilla has become a sexual sadist with a penchant for girls. Old jealousies from the past still linger in Drusilla's heart and she has always resented Julia's breathtaking beauty, so she embarks on a vicious campaign of abuse and degradation. This places Julia at the mercy not only of Drusilla and her lesbian lover but also of the male crew of the Colchis - a gang of drunken bullies who take great delight in flogging and humiliating the chained, naked women who toil at the oars.

Even in such appalling circumstances, however, the basic human need for companionship still remains and Julia develops a strong bond of friendship with two of her fellow slaves. One of these is Caitlin, a gentle red-haired girl from the wild northern provinces, whose fragile beauty makes her a special target for lust and depravity. The other is Larissa, a tough military widow from the the Danube frontier, for whom Drusilla nurtures an obsessive passion. Consumed by jealousy at Caitlin's close companionship with Larissa, Drusilla orders the frail young redhead to be bound to the mast and whipped to death. This horrific spectacle - conducted in full view of the assembled seamen - is halted only when Julia bravely intervenes to receive the lashes on her own body.

The sudden appearance of the Imperial Navy saves Julia from perishing under the whip. With Caitlin she is taken aboard a naval vessel for rest, food and healing. Her time as a galley slave seems to be over but, to her dismay, a sudden attack by pirates brings deadly consequences. The attackers turn out to be allies of the crew of the Colchis, who by now have rebelled against Drusilla in a long-planned mutiny. To Julia's horror the pirates send her back to the nightmare of the oar-deck. Caitlin returns to the Colchis too, though not as a galley slave: her slender body is offered to an elderly pirate-chief, who comes aboard to sample the opulence of Drusilla's private cabin. Drusilla herself, formerly the mistress of her own ship, is now a sexual plaything for the sailors.

Just when Julia wonders if things can get any worse, her mother and sister arrive on the Colchis. Having journeyed far from home in the hope of rescuing her they now find themselves chained alongside her on the oar-deck. Like her they are naked and helpless, their fate resting in the hands of whip-wielding brutes whose desire for female flesh seems insatiable....