{"product_id":"caligula-the-tyranny-of-rome-by-douglas-jackson","title":"Caligula: The Tyranny of Rome by Douglas Jackson","description":"\u003cp\u003eA major new historical epic, in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, Caligula brilliantly combines impeccable research and historical detail with the power and pace of the best thriller writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula, a name synonymous with decadence and cruelty. His reign was marked by excess, huge building projects, the largest gladiatorial battles Rome was ever to see — men and animals killed in their hundreds — conspiracies and sexual scandal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRufus as a young slave grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial arena. Rufus has a natural ability with animals, a talent for controlling and schooling them. It is at the arenas that Rufus meets Cupido, one of Rome’s greatest gladiators.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is his growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido that attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor. Caligula wants a keeper for the imperial elephant and Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the palace, where life is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods. Caligula is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god and simultaneously lives in constant fear of plots against his life. But his paranoia is not misplaced; intrigue permeates his court, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the Trade Paperback edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41899481202762,"sku":"4766q","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/4766q_82850669-fa1c-4424-bbeb-8f20c04ff2d5.jpg?v=1765482618","url":"https:\/\/www.bookexpress.nz\/products\/caligula-the-tyranny-of-rome-by-douglas-jackson","provider":"Book Express","version":"1.0","type":"link"}