The next day Cicero, accompanied by Terentia and Quintus, his brother, makes a speech before the ten tribunes and Sthenius is safe as long as he remains in Rome. I don't consider it a major problem, though, since his style lends itself more to dynamic plotting and dialogue rather than lush detail. It shows a personal perspective on old history and it is very well done - albeit confusing cause all those Romans have the same name. Other kindle readers may also find too late that there is a glossary and cast of characters at the end. Events take a turn for the worse when Publius Clodius Pulcher lays charges against Lucius Sergius Catilina for the crimes he committed in Africa and Cicero thinks about defending Catilina.

Gabinius oversees a vote although he is opposed by a fellow tribune, Trebellius, a supporter of Crassus, and so Gabinius puts it to the voters to vote him out of office. Throughout, the incredible gallery of historical characters that have become so familiar to the modern world shape the events, most significantly Caesar, Crassus, Pompey and Cato.I gave Imperium four stars out of five, and Lustrum and Dictator both get two out of five, so I’ll give the trilogy an overall score of three stars out of five.

The worldbuilding is fair - I would say that McCullough does do a better job of evoking how different the culture of the Republic was, whereas Harris' Rome feels distinctly modern and rather British. He was a “new man,” rising to power as a senator, aedile, and ultimately consul purely through his popularity and persuasion, rather than old money and a venerable name. Part one sees Cicero rise to power, part 2 shows what he does with it and part 3 describes the chaotic aftermath in which the man is mainly naive, obstinate and melancholy. I assume because he preferred to cover the entirety of Cicero's life in his trilogy, which means a lot of historical fact to explain. Very edgy maybe – but it fails to convey any sense of the times it is describing, in the same way that Jane Austen adaptations don’t work with an American accent.As I neared the end of the trilogy I realised that I had whisked through more than 900 pages of Roman history – no mean feat on its own on RH’s part. Seven men are struggling for power: Cicero the consul, Caesar his ruthless rival, Pompey the republic's greatest general, Crassus its richest man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath, Clodius an ambitious playboy. For those who are having trouble keeping up with the story, the characters or the Roman socio-political system I would suggest using the excellent and thorough videos the YouTube channel Historia Civilis.