Rome 63 BC. In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire seven men are struggling for power. Cicero is consul Caesar his ruthless young rival Pompey the republics greatest general Crassus its richest man Cato a political fanatic Catilina a psychopath Clodius an ambitious playboy. The stories of these real historical figures
- their alliances & betrayals their cruelties & seductions their brilliance & their crimes
- are all interleaved to form this epic novel. Its narrator is Tiro a slave who serves as confidential secretary to the wily humane complex Cicero. He knows all his masters secrets
- a dangerous position to be in. From the discovery of a childs mutilated body through judicial execution & a scandalous trial to the brutal unleashing of the Roman mob Lustrum is a study in the timeless enticements & horrors of power.