Rome, 9 B.C. Emperor Augustus is all-powerful. Alix is over 50 years old. He is a senator. Well determined to join the mysterious Atlantis in the great north, Alix and his family go to a village in Armorique to build a ship capable of resisting extreme ocean conditions. But their coming exacerbates the latent conflict that undermines the community. The adherents of the religious tradition that forbids travel away now want to end the partisans of world exploration... with them, and with their ally, the senator.