Imperium

When Tiro; the confidential secretary of a Roman senator; opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning; he sets in motion a chain of events which will eventually propel his master into one of the most famous courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian; a victim of the island’s corrupt Roman governor; Verres. The senator is Cicero; a brilliant young lawyer and spellbinding orator; determined to attain imperium – supreme power in the state. This is the starting-point of Robert Harris’s most accomplished novel to date. Compellingly written in Tiro’s voice; it takes us inside the violent; treacherous world of Roman politics; to describe how one man – clever; compassionate; devious; vulnerable – fought to reach the top

Lustrum

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; 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

Dictator

here was a time when Cicero held Caesar’s life in the palm of his hand. But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero’s life is in ruins. Cicero’s comeback requires wit; skill and courage. And for a brief and glorious period; the legendary orator is once more the supreme senator in Rome. But politics is never static. And no statesman; however cunning; can safeguard against the ambition and corruption of others