A major new historical epic, in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, <b>Caligula</b> brilliantly combines impeccable research and historical detail with the power and pace of the best thriller writing.<br><br>Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula, a name synonymous with decadence and cruelty. His reign was marked by excess, huge building projects, the largest gladiatorial battles Rome was ever to see &#8212; men and animals killed in their hundreds &#8212; conspiracies and sexual scandal.<br><br>Rufus as a young slave grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial arena. Rufus has a natural ability with animals, a talent for controlling and schooling them. It is at the arenas that Rufus meets Cupido, one of Rome&#8217;s greatest gladiators.<br><br>It is his growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido that attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor. Caligula wants a keeper for the imperial elephant and Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the palace, where life is dictated by Caligula&#8217;s ever shifting moods. Caligula is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god and simultaneously lives in constant fear of plots against his life. But his paranoia is not misplaced; intrigue permeates his court, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.<br><br><br><i>From the Trade Paperback edition.</i>