I Am a Barbarian

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

First published 1967

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2.5(5)

Britannicus, a fictional slave taken to Rome, becomes closely attached to the household and court of the emperor Caligula. Through his perspective the novel follows court ceremony, cruelty, political fear and the unstable exercise of imperial power during Caligula’s short reign.

The novel is set in Rome during the reign of Caligula, from AD 37 to 41, and views imperial power from the vulnerable position of a household slave. Historical figures and court politics provide the framework, while Britannicus's private observations turn the emperor's reign into an intimate story of fear, cruelty and survival.