The TARDIS brings them to AD 120. Rose and the Doctor save an elderly man named Gracilis from muggers. They learn that he is looking for his son, Optatus. A few people overhear his conversation with the Doctor and Rose and recommend a slave girl named Vanessa. When she is told what Gracilis wants, she starts to work calculations on a bit of parchment. After some discussion, Gracilis buys her from her 'owner'. The next morning, the Doctor and Rose see the new statue of Optatus. The sculptor is an unpleasant person named Ursus, who invites Rose to come to his workshop the next day to be a model for a statue of a goddess.