A “startlingly visceral” (The New York Times) portrait of Rome’s first imperial dynasty, from Augustus to Nero—by the acclaimed author of Rubicon and co-host of the hit podcast The Rest Is History

“Holland is a master of narrative history. On the strength of Dynasty, he deserves a laurel wreath.” —The Washington Post

In Dynasty, Tom Holland traces the astonishing century-long story of the rise and fall of the Julio-Claudians—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Capturing both the brilliant allure of their rule and the blood-steeped shadows cast by their crimes, Dynasty travels from the great capital rebuilt in marble to the dank and barbarian forests of Germany.

Populated by a spectacular cast—murderers, adulterers, Druids, scheming grandmothers, reluctant gladiators—it vividly recreates the world of Rome after Julius Caesar. A tale of rule and ruination, Dynasty is the story of a family that transformed and stupefied the western world and that continues to cast a mesmerizing spell across the millennia.