NERO

ANCIENT ROME, AD 37

It begins with a man’s hand curled around another’s throat.

Emperor Tiberius first dispatches a traitor.

Then his whole family.

Next all his friends. It is as if he never existed.

THIS IS ROMAN JUSTICE.

Into this fevered forum, a child is born.

His mother is Agrippina, granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. But their imperial blood is no protection. The closer you are to the heart of the empire, the closer you are to power, intrigue, and danger.

She faces soldiers, senators, rivals, silver-tongued pretenders, each vying for position. One mistake risks exile, incarceration, execution. Or, worst of all, the loss of her infant son.

For Agrippina knows that opportunity waits, even in your darkest moments. Her son is everything. She can make this boy, shape him into Rome itself – the one all must kneel before.

BUT FIRST, THEY MUST SURVIVE . . .

This then is the story of Nero's birth and raising under the watchful and scheming eye of his mother Agrippina – a woman every man crossed at his peril.

TYRANT

A MARRIAGE BLESSED IN BLOOD . . .

Emperor Claudius is to wed his niece Agrippina.
Her elevation will change so many things.
Claudius will name her son Nero as heir.
And any who dare cross her will live to regret it.

Yet Nero – still a boy – is vulnerable.
He vies for favour with his brother Britannicus.
He learns to fight. He learns to love.
Marry your sister-cousin Octavia,
says his mother. Never mind the scandal.

But those who have survived Agrippina,
have long memories and short knives.
To rise in Rome, others must fall.

How long before Claudius realises his adopted son is a threat?
And Nero stops seeing his mother as an ally?

INFERNO

THE FINAL EPIC IN THE NERO TRIOLOGY



The throne is never safe ... especially in Rome



AD 60. Rome stands at the height of its power – glittering with wealth, drowning in intrigue.



On Palatine Hill, Nero Claudius Caesar rules as Emperor, a young man adored for his beauty and brilliance, feared for his temper, intoxicated by his own power. His empire stretches from the wilds of Britain to the deserts of Parthia, yet his enemies are never far: generals who command legions, senators who whisper in corridors, a people who cheer him in the circus but curse him on the streets.



Nero has learned that power is never shared, only seized. He has seen off enemies before, not least his mother, Agrippina. Yet now Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, leads a revolt in the North. Closer to home, Gaius Julius Vindex, Roman by office but Gallic by blood, denounces Nero’s corruption and declares open rebellion against the Emperor from Gaul.



Rome is a city that devours its rulers. As the first sparks of revolt alight beyond its walls, an empire built on fire begins to burn from within . . .