The Death of Kings

Sulla, Dictator of Rome, has demanded that Cornelia, wife of Julius come to his palace.  He wants to have his way with her.  Julius is away, fighting pirates, and Sulla can do as he pleases.  Until somebody murders him, that is.

Cornelia doesn't know that Julius has been captured by the very pirates he has been sent to fight.  Meantime Julius' friend Brutus is in Greece, scrambling for his life.  Cinna and Pompey are now in charge of Rome, while Brutus and Julius have to somehow make it back home.

Ransomed, Julius doesn't want to return home.  He wants to gain retribution on the pirate who had captured him, regain the lost money of his legion and the ransoms.  Achieving that goal, Julius finds that Sulla is dead and that Mithridates has risen in rebellion.  He and his ragtag army set out to punish the rebels on behalf of Rome.

Successful in defeating Mithridates, Julius now heads for Rome.  However, there are some in the Senate who are against him such as Cato.  Fortunately Pompey speaks in his favour.  Soon the Senate has another problem on its hands; slaves have rebelled in the north.  They are led by a former gladiator, Spartacus.  The Senate must send troops to quell the rebellion.  Julius and Brutus are among the legions sent north.

Badly outnumbered the legions are unable to defeat the slaves who now turn south towards Rome.  The legions follow in hot pursuit.

Author Conn Iggulden has written a fast paced historical novel based on the life of a young Julius Caesar.  He shows how Caesar grows as a leader of men, and what the life was like for ordinary Romans of the time.  A very good read.