Emperor Nero

The second Nero novel follows the emperor from the apparent security of his mature reign through the disasters that destroy his authority. With Poppaea Sabina beside him, Nero promotes public games, music and ambitious building projects, but the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE turns his vision of a renewed capital into a source of suspicion. As accusations spread and opposition hardens, the court becomes dominated by informers, the praetorian prefect Tigellinus and conspiracies that implicate senators, writers and former advisers.

The narrative covers the Pisonian conspiracy and the enforced deaths of figures including Seneca, Lucan and Petronius, followed by Poppaea’s death, Nero’s artistic tour of Greece and the final revolts against his government. The emperor’s need for admiration leaves him increasingly unable to distinguish loyalty from performance, while Galba’s challenge and the desertion of the Praetorian Guard bring the Julio-Claudian dynasty to an end. The novel concludes with Nero’s flight and death, linking the destruction of one ruler to the civil conflict that becomes the Year of the Four Emperors.