Lustrum

The stunning new novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of An Officer and a Spy Pomeii Imperium and The Ghost.      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.