One of them was a military genius; one murdered his mother and fiddled while Rome burned. Six of their number were assassinated, two committed suicide, and five of them were elevated to the status of gods. They have come to be known as the 'twelve Caesars' - Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. Under their rule, Rome was transformed from a republic to an empire, whose model of regal autocracy would survive in the West for more than a thousand years.

In The Twelve Caesars, Matthew Dennison offers a beautifully crafted sequence of imperial portraits, triumphantly evoking the luxury, licence, brutality and sophistication of imperial Rome at its zenith.

Unputdownable... These histories from 2,000 years ago are riveting in their insight, their black humour and their sheer readability, give or take a few highbrow verbal flourishes. Matthew Dennison fleshes out their gaudy history with boisterous scholarship. Daily Mail An unforgettable depiction of the Roman empire at the height of its power and reach, and an elegantly sensational retelling of the lives and times of the 'twelve Caesars'.

About the Author
Matthew Dennison is the author of the critically acclaimed biographies: The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria's Youngest Daughter, and Empress of Rome: The Life of Livia. As a journalist, he has been published in every national weekday broadsheet and continues to contribute regularly to Country Life, The Times, Telegraph Magazine and the Daily Express. He read English Language & Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, as Douglas Jerrold Scholar, and afterwards the History of Decorative Arts at the University of Glasgow.

Reviews
Unputdownable... These histories from 2,000 years ago are riveting in their insight, their black humour and their sheer readability, give or take a few highbrow verbal flourishes. Matthew Dennison fleshes out their gaudy history with boisterous scholarship. * Daily Mail *
Dennison's series of impressionistic pen portraits are compelling and imaginative. * Sunday Times *
Matthew Dennison is one of those rare marvels, a historical biographer whose work has reached the bestseller lists... Each story is told with humour and personal interpretations of the facts. Then there's the glory of the language: Dennison is in love with the English language, and it shows. * Independent *
The author's prose style - epigrammatic, swift, and spiced with humour - is like Tacitus in translation. Which is meant as a compliment. His relish for his material shines infectiously through his sentences. -- Thomas Hodgkinson * Spectator *
Dennison's approach combines thoughtful reflection and analysis with gossipy irreverence in a bewitching cocktail... hugely entertaining. * Daily Express *

Unputdownable... These histories from 2,000 years ago are riveting in their insight, their black humour and their sheer readability, give or take a few highbrow verbal flourishes. Matthew Dennison fleshes out their gaudy history with boisterous scholarship.

* Daily Mail *
Gossipy and insightful, making for an enjoyable introduction to this power -hungry crowd * Financial Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9781848876859
Author Matthew Dennison
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 370g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 128mm * 30mm