 During the Punic Wars in the third century B.C. the little girl Cabiria, and her nurse Croessa, are abducted during the confusion caused by an eruption of Mount Etna. Cabiria is sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in the temple of Moloch. Fulvio Axilla, a Roman spy, and his slave, Maciste, rescue her and she ends up in the care of Queen Sophonisba. Ten years later, after many wars and alliances, Carthage falls to the Romans and Cabiria returns home with Fulvio.