The stunning new novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of An Officer and a Spy, Pompeii, Imperium and The Ghost.
It was Rome, 63 BC. In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire, seven men are struggling for power - Cicero is consul; Caesar, his ruthless young rival; Pompey, the republic's greatest general; Crassus, its richest man; Cato, a political fanatic; Catilina, a psychopath; and, Clodius, an ambitious playboy.
**PRE-ORDER AGRIPPA NOW: THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, COMING AUGUST 2026**
'A pure thriller . . . wry, clever, thoughtful' OBSERVER
'No one delivers thrilling yet timeless games of power, sex, fame and Rome like Robert Harris' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Rome, 63 BC. Seven men are struggling for power: Cicero the consul, Caesar his ruthless rival, Pompey the republic's greatest general, Crassus its richest man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath and Clodius an ambitious playboy.
These real historical figures - their alliances and betrayals, their cruelties and seductions - are all interleaved in Lustrum, through its narrator Tiro, a confidential secretary to Cicero. He knows all his master's secrets - a dangerous position to be in.
'Thoroughly engaging . . . The allure of power and the perils that attend it have seldom been so brilliantly anatomised in a thriller' Sunday Times
Harris is the master. With Lustrum, [he] has surpassed himself. It is one of the most exciting thrillers I have ever read * Evening Standard *
Harris communicates such a strong sense of imperial Rome - the book is awesomely well-informed about the minutiae of everyday life * Guardian *
Thoroughly engaging ... The allure of power and the perils that attend it have seldom been so brilliantly anatomised in a thriller * Sunday Times *
Harris never makes his comparisons between Rome and modern Britain explicit, but they are certainly there. And that's the principal charm of his ancient thrillers - their up-to-dateness * Sunday Telegraph *
Magnificent ... Better than Robert Graves's Claudius novels * Standpoint *
A read to be savoured * Scotland on Sunday *
Wry, clever, thoughtful, with a terrific sense of timing and eye for character. * Observer *
Thrillingly paced and narrated ... What grips most about Lustrum is the seriousness with which the political issues at stake are taken, and the vividness of the characterisation
* Spectator *Offers great insight into the psychology of political calculation
* Independent *Deeply satisfying, impeccably researched and spectacularly topical ... This is a thriller to die for ... The pace never falters, and the politics are sharply relevant * Daily Mail *
ISBN: 9780099406327
Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 29mm
Weight: 330g
480 pages