This history based on events recorded by ancient historians Sallust, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, Suetonius, and others, reads like a novel. It explores the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. The demands of heredity loomed large in their lives. Those who sprang from greatness must be great themselves, whether or not they had either the ability or the desire to be so. This book presents the challenges and dilemmas of the Caesars and their contemporaries in narrative form with interpolations of dialogue as the ancient writers did, taking the known facts and interpreting the characters through them, giving real people the motivations they may have had. This book provides readers a new thought-provoking look at one of the most fascinating families in history and one whose profound effect upon the world still touches us today.

Special Features

• Overview of Roman history appendix
  
• Julio-Claudian Family Tree
  
• Map of Roman World
  
• Glossary of special terms, especially those from Latin, and significant figures from Roman history