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The Roman Trilogy Series

This series plunges into the turbulent waters of ancient Rome, chronicling the rise and political machinations of one of history's most iconic figures. Through the eyes of his loyal secretary, you'll explore the intricacies of senatorial struggles, electoral corruption, and constant threats to free speech. The narratives portray an ambitious yet vulnerable protagonist, whose journey from radical lawyer to the state's first citizen is filled with strategic maneuvering and public manipulation. This compelling saga captures the timeless essence of politics, showcasing human fallibility and aspiration in a setting both alien and familiar.

The Cicero Trilogy
Dictator
Lustrum
Imperium

Recommended Reading Order

  1. Imperium

    • 403 pages
    • 15 hours of reading

    When Tiro, the confidential secretary of a Roman senator, encounters a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he unwittingly sets off a series of events that will lead his master into a historic courtroom drama. The stranger, a Sicilian wronged by the corrupt governor Verres, brings a case to Cicero, a brilliant young lawyer and orator eager to achieve supreme power. This marks the beginning of a compelling narrative, told from Tiro's perspective, that immerses readers in the treacherous world of Roman politics. It explores how one man—clever, compassionate, and vulnerable—navigates the complexities of ambition and power. The story emphasizes the significance of articulating ambition, as Cicero's bold declaration of his aspirations ignites hope and possibility. Robert Harris reflects on his long-standing fascination with politics, likening it to a contact sport. He highlights the timeless elements of oratory, strategizing, and public manipulation that make politics exhilarating. Cicero’s journey is not just a historical account but a universal exploration of ambition and the thrill of political life.

    Imperium1
    4.2

  2. Lustrum

    • 384 pages
    • 14 hours of reading

    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.

    Lustrum2
    4.2

  3. Dictator

    • 449 pages
    • 16 hours of reading

    Aged 48, Marcus Cicero, the greatest orator of his time, is to all appearances a broken man. Out of power, exiled to the eastern Mediterranean with his faithful secretary, Tiro, separated from his wife and children, his possessions confiscated, he spends his days tormented by his failure. But, to quote one of his own famous aphorisms: 'while there's life there's hope'. By promising to support his political enemy, Caesar, he manages to win his return to Italy. Once home, he gradually fights his way back: first in the law courts, then in the senate, and finally by the power of his pen, until at last, for one brief and glorious period, he is once again the dominant figure in Rome. The long-awaited final volume of Robert Harris's Cicero Trilogy, DICTATOR encompasses some of the most epic events in human history: the collapse of the Roman republic, the subsequent civil war, the murder of Pompey and the assassination of Julius Caesar. Its theme, however, is timeless: how is political freedom to be safeguarded against the triple threats of unscrupulous personal ambition, of an electoral system dominated by vested financial interests, and of the corrupting impact of waging ceaseless foreign wars? But above all, it is the very human figure of Cicero, beset by family problems, which makes the story so compelling: brilliant, flawed, frequently fearful and yet ultimately brave - a hero for his time, and for ours.

    Dictator3
    4.3

Related books

  • The Cicero Trilogy

    • 992 pages
    • 35 hours of reading

    'One of the great triumphs of contemporary historical literature.' The TimesWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR'Laws are silent in times of war.' CiceroOne of the great epics of political and historical fiction, The Cicero Trilogy charts the career of the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero from his mid-twenties as an ambitious young lawyer to his dramatic death more than thirty years later, pursued by an assassination squad on a cliff-top path.The extraordinary life that unfolds between these two episodes is recounted by Cicero's private secretary, the law cases and the speeches that made his master's name; the elections and conspiracies he fought; the rivals who contended for power around him - Pompey, Crassus, Cato, Clodius, Catalina, and, most menacingly, Caesar; and, at the heart of it all, the complex personality of Cicero himself - brilliant, cunning, duplicitous, anxious, brave, and always intensely humane.More than ten years in the writing, and now published in a single volume for the first time, The Cicero Trilogy brings the world of the Roman republic vividly to life. Here is its grandeur, ambition and corruption; and here is its tumultuous collapse into dictatorship and anarchy - a story of the fragility of democratic institutions that holds a warning for our own time.

    The Cicero Trilogy
    4.5