I am fascinated by the period of Roman history from 133 B.C.E. through 68 C.E. and generally like any works of fiction or non-fiction set during this time period.However, I was surprisingly disappointed by this novel.Perhaps because Harris chose Cicero's slave/secretary Tiro as the narrator of the story, thereby depriving himself of the opportunity to create interesting secondary stories and characters, the book comes across as a very dry account of Cicero's early political career.I believe a reader would be better served by reading one of the biographies of Cicero that have been published during the last decade. Certainly, the interested reader would learn more about the political conflicts that are the background of the novel and just as much about Cicero and the other main characters referenced in the novel.