Nine short tales from the ancient and medieval past. A Minoan peasant tells home truths to a passing Mycenean, an ambassadorial visit to Egypt goes embarrassingly wrong, a Greek rower tells of a sea-battle during the Peloponnesian War and a merchant has an encounter on the road to Athens. Cicero's secretary has a strange meeting in his vineyard and a soldier in late Roman Britain does a final favour for an absent friend. A Viking wife reminisces on a rainy hillside, an Anglo-Saxon smith helps out in a family matter and a young monk learns a lesson in patience.