Author Description

The plan was simple: set fire to Rome, massacre the rich, loot their property, and take over the government. It was up to Cicero—a bookish orator—to save the republic. Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Cato: they all have their parts to play, and the masterful pen of Gaston Boissier makes these outsized characters live once more. Gaston Boissier, a member of the Académie française, was a brilliant historian who specialized in making ancient Rome live again for modern readers. This new translation brings one of his last and most entertaining works to English-speaking readers for the first time.