Den of wolves

the long version

"Iphicles, a 100-year-old slave, looks back over his lifetime to recount the story of the Julio-Claudians, the great Roman family drawn from two patrician clans, which he has spent his life serving. In 44 BC, in the last days of the Republic and with Julius Caesar in control as Dictator, a soothsayer foretells that the young Tiberius Nero will sire four kings of Rome if he is wed to his cousin, the darkly beautiful Livia Drusilla. So begins a tale of sex, corruption and obsession as the murderous prophecy unfolds. Set in an age when only men could wield direct power, Empress of Rome explores the lives of the great women -- Livia, Julia, Antonia and Agrippina -- women who had to rely on their ambition and cunning to prosper. Luke Devenish skilfully takes us deep into the lives of these monstrous women who lived in such monstrous times."--Provided by publisher.