Empress of Rome #1
Berkley
April 2010
On Sale: April 6, 2010
Featuring: Thea; Arius; Lepida
496 pages ISBN: 0425232476 EAN: 9780425232477 Trade Size Add to Wish List
An exciting debut: a vivid, richly imagined saga of
ancient Rome from a masterful new voice in historical
fiction
Thea is a slave girl from Judaea,
passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the
spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her
mistress's rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome's
newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the
first happiness of her life-that is quickly ended when a
jealous Lepida tears them apart.
As Lepida goes on
to wreak havoc in the life of a new husband and his family,
Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome's
aristocrats. Unwittingly, she attracts another admirer in
the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But Domitian's games have a
darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul
and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a
vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier,
a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant
and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the
Emperor's mistress.