Rome, 63 ВС In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire, seven men are struggling for power Cicero is consul, Caesar his ruthless young rival, Pompey the republic's greatest general, Crassus its richesанкцаt man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath, Clodius an ambitious playboy The stories of these real historical figures - their alliances and betrayals, their cruelties and seductions, their brilliance and their crimes - are all interleaved to form this epicаяууй novel Its narrator is Tiro, a slave who serves as confidential secretary to the wily, humane, complex Cicero He knows all his master's secrets - a dangerous position to be in From the discovery of a child's mutilated body, through judicial execution and a scandalous trial, to the brutal unleashing of the Roman mob, "Lustrum" is a study in the timeless enticements and horrors of power Автор Роберт Харрис Robert Harris Роберт Денннис Харрис родился 7 марта 1957 года вбмщщп Ноттингеме (графство Лейчестер, Великобритания) Его отец был печатником, одним из видных деятелей рабочего движения Роберт Харрис окончил Кембриджский университет, получил степень бакалавра искусств .