A young Roman soldier and his sweetheart are embracing each other fondly and making their vows. The next scene shows the public square, where it is announced that war has been proclaimed. The old priest addresses the populace, telling them that he has chosen for them a great leader who is none other than this young man. Upon order of the priest, his mail, sword and helmet are brought him, and 'mid the cheers of the people he bids his love goodbye and goes off to the war. The next view shows the girl lounging in her room attended by her slave. Suddenly a messenger announces that a soldier seeks admittance with news for her. He is promptly shown in; he is a wounded man, and after placing the message in her hands, he drops dead at her feet. Upon reading it she learns that her sweetheart has been killed. The terrible truth is too much for her and she becomes morose and melancholy. Finally, in despair, she decides to take the veil and become a vestal in the church, whose duty it is to keep burning perpetually a sacred flame of incense in the tower of the church. She is admitted to the sacred duty, and is satisfied to so forget her lost lover. The next scene shows the unveiled girl being marched out by soldiers to a cave where she is to be executed by being thrown into the pit to die. The black hole is uncovered, and after the priest points out to her the extinguished light, she is quickly thrown into the pit, notwithstanding the pleas and efforts of her lover who has meanwhile arrived on the scene. At this moment a miracle occurs, for, of its own accord, the light suddenly flares up, no human hand having touched it. All gathered about it prostrate themselves before the divine manifestation and recognize it as a heavenly interference. The girl is taken out of the terrible pit and restored to the arms of her lover.