The second book in the stunning Roman Empire trilogy by Robert Harris, author of the acclaimed bestsellers Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium and The Ghost.

It is 63 BC, the year when Cicero is consul. Most of his time in office is devoted to uncovering and thwarting a violent conspiracy to overthrow the state, ostensibly led by Crassus and a group of disaffected senators.

Underlying it all is the great rivalry between Cicero and Caesar who represent two different types of ambition: one orthodox, the other revolutionary. As Caesar’s power grows, Cicero must face the inevitable compromises that come with power; is it justifiable to use illegal methods in order to save the Republic?

Robert Harris yet again proves himself a master of historical fiction as he takes the reader to the heart of republican Rome with a novel that is at once brilliantly researched and utterly gripping.

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"Harris is the master. With Lustrum, [he] has surpassed himself. It is one of the most exciting thrillers I have ever read'."
- Peter Jones, Evening Standard

"Harris communicates such a strong sense of imperial Rome - the book is awesomely well-informed about the minutiae of everyday life."
- Guardian

"Thoroughly engaging - The allure of power and the perils that attend it have seldom been so brilliantly anatomised in a thriller."
- Sunday Times

"Harris never makes his comparisons between Rome and modern Britain explicit, but they are certainly there. And that's the principal charm of his ancient thrillers - their up-to-dateness."
- Sunday Telegraph

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Robert Harris worked as a reporter for the BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight programmes before becoming political editor of the Observer and subsequently a columnist for the Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph. His books have been translated into thirty-seven languages.

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