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 republic's greatest general, Crassus its richest man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath, and Clodius an ambitious playboy. The stories of these real historical figures - their alliances and betrayals, their cruelties and seductions, their brilliance and 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 master's secrets - a dangerous position to be in. From the discovery of a child's mutilated body, through judicial execution and a scandalous trial, to the brutal unleashing of the Roman mob, "Lustrum" is a study in the timeless enticements and horrors of power.
- ISBN10 0091801001
- ISBN13 9780091801007
- Publish Date 8 October 2009
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 December 2014
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cornerstone
- Imprint Hutchinson
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 464
- Language English