Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Harris, Robert

ISBN 10: 0743576497 ISBN 13: 9780743576499

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010

Synopsis

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATHERLAND AND POMPEII COMES THE MOST PROVOCATIVE AND BRILLIANT NOVEL OF ANTIQUITY SINCEI, CLAUDIUS --
IMPERIUM
A CAUTIONARY TALE OF CICERO, THE GREATEST ORATOR OF ALL TIME, AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN ROME.

When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Marcus Cicero -- an ambitious young lawyer and spellbinding orator, who at the age of twenty-seven is determined to attainimperium -- supreme power in the state.

Of all the great figures of the Roman world, none was more fascinating or charismatic than Cicero. And Tiro -- the inventor of shorthand and author of numerous books, including a celebrated biography of his master (which was lost in the Dark Ages) -- was always by his side.

Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, Imperium is the re-creation of his vanished masterpiece, recounting in vivid detail the story of Cicero's quest for glory, competing with some of the most powerful and intimidating figures of his -- or any other -- age: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and the many other powerful Romans who changed history.

Robert Harris, the world's master of innovative historical fiction, lures us into a violent, treacherous world of Roman politics at once exotically different from and yet startlingly similar to our own -- a world of Senate intrigue and electoral corruption, special prosecutors and political adventurism -- to describe how one clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable man fought to reach the top.

About this title

Review

Praise for "Pompeii" "Blazingly exciting... Harris, as Vesuvius explodes, gives full vent to his genius for thrilling narrative... suffocating suspense and searing action."-"Sunday Times" "As explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history."-"Daily Telegraph" "From the Hardcover edition."

From the Publisher

The first book in a major new trilogy set in the Ancient Roman Empire by the number one bestselling author of Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel and Pompeii

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743576497
• ISBN 13: 9780743576499
• Binding: Audio CD