'To take the conspiracy against Julius Caesar - one of the most famous murder plots in history - and make of it something fresh and exciting is no small feat. This is what Allan Massie has done in this fine novel which should appeal equally to those who know their Roman history and those for whom it is only a cloudy rumour of remote events' Evening Standard 'Massie's achievement is to infuse the mythical emperor with blood...he invigorates his characters with voices that seem to echo the present, not the past, and which are utterly convincing...a piece of bravura invention' Independent