Augustus
This is the dramatic story of the provinical outsider, born in a backwater and with no expectations of power, who came to found Europe. Through his Pax Romana Augustus created a united Europe and enabled ideas, and Christianity, to spread throughout its territories. Richard Holland explores to the full the extraordinary, complex nature of the young tyro who found himself in charge of the most expansive empire on earth; the able politician, fully aware of the 'spin' necessary to make his policies work effectively; the possessive and demonstrative lover who took his second wife from her husband when she was pregnant with her husband's child; the gambler who played for the highest of stakes; the vain man who could be tyrannical and unforgiving, and yet show kindness to a slave. Those he mixed with have sauntered through the pages of history and taken their rightful place upon the stage - Cleopatra, Antony, Julius Caesar, while Augustus, though just as, and perhaps more, influential, than any, remains elusive. In this book we will come to know not only Augustus the ruler, but Augustus the man of flesh and blood.