The Daughters of Palatine Hill: A Novel

Two years after Emperor Augustuss bloody defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, he triumphantly returns to Rome. To his only child, Julia, he brings an unlikely companionSelene, the daughter of the conquered Egyptian queen and her lover. Under the watchful eye of Augustuss wife, Livia, Selene struggles to accept her new home among her parents enemies. Bound together by kinship and spilled blood, these three womenLivia, Selene, and Julianavigate the dangerous world of Romes ruling elite, their every move a political strategy, their most intimate decisions in the emperors hands. Always suppressing their own desires for the good of Rome, each must fulfill her role. For astute Livia, this means unwavering fidelity to her all-powerful husband; for sensual Julia, surrender to an arranged marriage and denial of her craving for love and the pleasures of the flesh; for orphaned Selene, choosing between loyalty to her familys killers and her wish for revenge. Can they survive Romes deadly intrigues, or will they be swept away by the perilous currents of the worlds most powerful empire? See more