‘An engrossing new spin on a well-known tale’ Antonia Senior, The Times
‘Caligula as you’ve never seen him before! A powerfully moving read from one of the best ancient world authors in the business‘ Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network
Everyone knows his name. Everyone thinks they know his story.
Rome 37AD. The emperor is dying. No-one knows how long he has left. The power struggle has begun.
When the ailing Tiberius thrusts Caligula’s family into the imperial succession in a bid to restore order, he will change the fate of the empire and create one of history’s most infamous tyrants, Caligula.
But was he really a monster?
Forget everything you think you know. Let Livilla, Caligula’s youngest sister and confidante, tell you what really happened. How her quiet, caring brother became the most powerful man on earth. And how, with lies, murder and betrayal, Rome was changed for ever . . .
‘A truly different take on one of history’s villains . . . All through this I am seeing Al Pacino in The Godfather, slowly stained darker and darker by power and blood’ Robert Low, author of The Oathsworn series
‘Enthralling and original, brutal and lyrical by turns. With powerful imagery and carefully considered history Simon Turney provides a credible alternative to the Caligula myth that will have the reader questioning everything they believe they know about the period‘ Anthony Riches, author of the Empire series
‘Caligula as you’ve never seen him before! A powerfully moving read from one of the best ancient world authors in the business‘ Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network
Everyone knows his name. Everyone thinks they know his story.
Rome 37AD. The emperor is dying. No-one knows how long he has left. The power struggle has begun.
When the ailing Tiberius thrusts Caligula’s family into the imperial succession in a bid to restore order, he will change the fate of the empire and create one of history’s most infamous tyrants, Caligula.
But was he really a monster?
Forget everything you think you know. Let Livilla, Caligula’s youngest sister and confidante, tell you what really happened. How her quiet, caring brother became the most powerful man on earth. And how, with lies, murder and betrayal, Rome was changed for ever . . .
‘A truly different take on one of history’s villains . . . All through this I am seeing Al Pacino in The Godfather, slowly stained darker and darker by power and blood’ Robert Low, author of The Oathsworn series
‘Enthralling and original, brutal and lyrical by turns. With powerful imagery and carefully considered history Simon Turney provides a credible alternative to the Caligula myth that will have the reader questioning everything they believe they know about the period‘ Anthony Riches, author of the Empire series
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Reviews
Evocative, researched to the inch and a truly different take on one of history's villains . . . All through this I am seeing Al Pacino in The Godfather, slowly stained darker and darker by power and blood
Caligula as you've never seen him before! In this exciting new tale from Simon Turney, the much-maligned emperor of Rome steps forward not as a maddened psychopath, but as a brave and tormented young man struggling to navigate the snake-pit that is his own Imperial family. A powerfully moving read from one of the best ancient world authors in the business
A harrowing and visceral tale that draws you into the pulsing heart of Ancient Rome
Gripping, emotional, and authentic. The best Roman novel I've read in a long time. Simon Turney is one of the best historical novelists out there.
This is a masterpiece of historical fiction. I've always considered Caligula to be the mad, incestuous tyrant we are always led to believe he was, so I struggled to see how Turney could turn this around and paint him as human. But it does it so well
Superbly researched and elegantly written. A powerful and original narrative that should appeal to his existing fans and win him many more
In Caligula Simon Turney uses fiction to challenge some of [the] lies that masquerade under the name of "history" . . . [His narrator, Livilla] provides an energetic and intelligent eyewitness view of the imperial court and of the gradual decline of Caligula's rule . . . A satisfyingly alternative look at Caligula, something perhaps done better in fiction than in academic history . . . Great and enjoyable
Brilliant . . . a gripping gallop of a read, impeccably researched, beautifully written, impossible to put down
Turney's masterful, persuasive writing makes you start to question everything you have ever read about Rome's most tyrannical ruler . . . Finding humanity and redeeming qualities in one of history's most reviled villains is a bold move, but in Turney's hands, it pays off
Inspired . . . a mesmerising, haunting and disturbing portrait of Caligula
In this compelling ancient-world saga, Turney skilfully reimagines the life of history's most reviled emperor. Told from the eyes of Caligula's clever and devoted sister, it's a fascinating, fast-paced, page-turner!
Enthralling and original, brutal and lyrical by turns. With powerful imagery and carefully considered history Simon Turney provides a credible alternative to the Caligula myth that will have the reader questioning everything they believe they know about the period
A close and intimate portrait of a young man's rise to power in a murderously dangerous society, and his vertiginous descent into vindictive rage and excess. Compelling, claustrophobic, and utterly convincing, this is a story of gilded lives on the edge of a precipice
Turney weaves a tale that shows Caligula as a real, flawed human being, thrust into a life that so vary rarely ends well. His pains are real. And even as he slowly descends into a form of madness that was inescapable, and towards a fate that we already know, I found myself rooting for old little boots. Its a sad tale, beautifully told by a master storyteller
This exuberant take on one of the great monsters of history is exhilarating in its revisionist energy; Simon Turney is a truly cherishable talent
An inspired new take on Caligula that combines the pace of a thriller with the grand sweep of a tragedy - a gripping read that echoes in the memory long after the last page is turned
Caligula is a monster we all know and love to hate. Simon Turney's novel challenges our prejudice and sketches a more understanding view of the Roman emperor . . . Turney's version is an entirely plausible take on the sources. We pity the boy, even as we deplore the insane violence of the man. Caligula is an engrossing new spin on a well-known tale
Simon Turney brings an authentic, intriguing - and above all, fresh - new eye to one of the best-known names in the Roman world. Caligula has long been reviled as a weak, petty tyrant. In Turney's capable hands, we see the human behind the myth: a complex man brought down by the exigencies of the office, but who could, with more luck, have been one of the great Emperors of history. This is a cracking book, alive with the sights and sounds of an ancient Rome brought vividly to life by one of the rising stars of the genre. I read it in one sitting, and you can't say better than that
