This new novel from the international bestselling author of Roma" is set against the background of Caesars stupendous quadruple triumphs in Rome in 46 BC full of colour & spectacle. Having obliterated the opposition Caesar is now dictator for life. In the upcoming celebrations Vercingetorix the Gaul is scheduled to be executed as is Arsinoe the sister of Cleopatra...and Cleopatra herself is in Rome on a state visit trying to convince Caesar to acknowledge their son as his heir. Marc Antony & Caesar are at odds; Cicero is making a fool of himself with a new teenage bride; & Caesars wife Calpurnia having fallen under the spell of an Etruscan soothsayer is convinced of a plot on her husbands life. Murder & intrigue again draw Gordianus into the vortex of history. Praise for Stephen Saylor: Saylor is on top form with the latest in his extraordinarily vivid series of crime novels set in ancient Rome
- " Sunday Times". Saylors gifts include authentic historical & topographical backgrounds &...sombre themes set off the brilliant scenery & clever plotting
- " Times Literary Supplement". Saylors scholarship is breathtaking & his writing enthrals
- Ruth Rendell. Readers will find his work wonderfully (and gracefully) researched...this is entertainment of the first order
- " Washington Post". Saylor has acquired the information of a historian but he enjoys the gifts of a born novelist
- " Boston Globe"."