Dictator

by Robert Harris

Book 3 in the Cicero series (2015)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Imperium…Conspirata…and now, the long-awaited final volume of the author’s best-selling Cicero trilogy.

With Dictator, Robert Harris brings the saga of Cicero’s life to a time when some of the most epic events in human history occurred: the collapse of the Roman republic, the subsequent civil war, the murder of Pompey and the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Yet the question it asks is a timeless one: how is political freedom to be safeguarded against the triple threat of unscrupulous personal ambition, of an electoral system dominated by vested financial interests, and of the corrupting impact of waging ceaseless foreign wars? And in the very human figure of Cicero–brilliant, flawed, frequently fearful, and yet ultimately brave–Harris gives us a hero for both his own time, and for ours.

There was a time when Cicero held Caesar’s life in the palm of his hand. But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero’s life is in ruins. Cicero’s comeback requires wit, skill and courage. And for a brief and glorious period, the legendary orator is once more the supreme senator in Rome. But politics is never static and no statesman, however cunning, can safeguard against the ambition and corruption of others.