Imperium

When Tiro, the confidential secretary of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events which will eventually propel his master into one of the most famous courtroom dramas in history. The stranger is a Sicilian, a victim of the island?s corrupt Roman governor, Verres. The senator is Cicero, a brilliant young lawyer and spellbinding orator, determined to attain imperium ? supreme power in the state. This is the starting-point of Robert Harris?s most accomplished novel to date. Compellingly written in Tiro?s voice, it takes us inside the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics, to describe how one man ? clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable ? fought to reach the top.