Imperium
From the bestselling author of Conclave
-
-
4.4 • 101 Ratings
-
-
- £4.99
Publisher Description
**PRE-ORDER AGRIPPA NOW: THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, COMING AUGUST 2026**
'Masterful' SUNDAY TIMES
'Gripping and accomplished' GUARDIAN
'Truly gifted, razor-sharp' DAILY TELEGRAPH
Ancient Rome teems with ambitious and ruthless men. None is more brilliant than Marcus Cicero. A rising young lawyer, backed by a shrewd wife, he decides to gamble everything on one of the most dramatic courtroom battles of all time. Win it, and he could win control of Rome itself. Lose it, and he is finished forever.
Imperium is an epic account of the timeless struggle for power and the sudden disintegration of a society.
'In Harris' hands, the great game becomes a beautiful one' The Times
'A further step forward by this brilliant man who excels in everything he writers' Sunday Telegraph
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestselling British author Harris (Pompeii; Enigma) returns to ancient Rome for this entertaining and enlightening novel of Marcus Cicero's rise to power. Narrated by a household slave named Tiro, who actually served as Cicero's "confidential secretary" for 36 years, this fictional biography follows the statesman and orator from his early career as an outsider a "new man" from the provinces to his election to the consulship, Rome's highest office, in 64 B.C. Loathed by the aristocrats, Cicero lived by his wits in a tireless quest for imperium the ultimate power of life and death and achieves "his life's ambition" after uncovering a plot by Marcus Crassus and Julius Caesar to rig the elections and seize control of the government. Harris's description of Rome's labyrinthine, and sometimes deadly, political scene is fascinating and instructive. The action is relentless, and readers will be disappointed when Harris leaves Cicero at the moment of his greatest triumph. Given Cicero's stormy consulship, his continuing opposition to Julius Caesar and his own assassination, readers can only hope a sequel is in the works. Until then, this serves as a superb first act. 350,000 announced first priting; 10-city author tour.
Customer Reviews
Excellent!
Great book. The first one of this trilogy. Harris provides us with one of the pictures of Roman politics. Although a fictional book, it gives us an excellent panorama of Ancient Rome.
Fantastic
Brilliant book. Well worth reading if you are fascinated by the ancient roman republic as I am!!
Imperium: Hard Work
I am a real Robert Harris fan, however I found Imperium hard work.
There is no doubt that the book is beautifully researched and that it brings the Roman era and it's political intrigues alive, it's just that the story did not grip me the way that other work by this author has.
There are times when the tension mounts and the plot seems to be heading to some kind of finale, only to peter out in a back room political settlement.
I only felt truly gripped on a couple of occasions and that's not my normal experience when reading Robert Harris.
It's beautifully written, but a bit plodding for my taste.
I will however keep reading Mr Harris, as he's an extremely talented author.