Manfredi a Detroit

The Ides of March
Translated from the Italian by Christine Feddersen Manfredi
From the pen of the international bestselling author of The Last Legion and the “Alexander” series, comes a new political thriller set during the tempestuous final days of Julius Caesar’s Imperial Rome.

It is March in the year 44 BC. The Roman Empire stretches from modernday Syria in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Gaius Julius Caesar, Pontifex Maximus, dictator in perpetuity, indomitable military leader who has subjected much of the known world to Roman law, is fiftysix years old. He is at the height of his power; his reign is supreme and his reach immense. Or so it appears. In truth, Caesar is exhausted and ill, trapped in the prison of his own nightmares. His divine missions—to end the bloody season of fratricidal wars, to reconcile warring factions, to singlehandedly save Roman civilization—may be too great for one man.

The tide is turning against Caesar and there are those who conspire against him. They accuse him of being a tyrant. They say that when he dissolved the alliance with Pompey the Great at the river Rubicon, he put an end to liberty within the Republic. Caesar has resisted the attempts of his betrayers to bring him down, still he cannot resist forever. His power is being drained and it seems that nothing can save him, not Publius Sextius—his most loyal centurion and comrade, who is racing toward Rome in an attempt to prevent his assassination—or his devoted wife, Calphurnia; not even the attentions of his lover Servilla.

The soothsayer’s prophecies will out and when the Ides of March have passed, the world will have changed forever.

About the Author
Valerio Massimo Manfredi has published nine works of fiction, including the “Alexander” trilogy, which has been translated into twentyfour languages. He is the author of The Last Legion, which was made into a film starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, directed by Doug Lefler.

About the Translator
Christine Feddersen graduated from Northwestern University. She is an English professor at the Military Academy of Modena and a translator. She has two children.

Praise
“Manfredi takes a story whose finale is wellknown and turns it into a tale that is nonetheless gripping and suspenseful, with surprise twists of the kind that are found in the best noir novels.”—Corriere della Sera

“From the Apennines to the palazzos of Rome. From encounters with ordinary people in outposts of the empire to those with monumental historical figures… [Manfredi] tells a grand story that not only manages to fascinate readers but also to provoke reflection about the uses and abuses of power, the ruses of destiny, and the machinations of politics. A historical novel that speaks forcefully to the present day.” —Il Messaggero (Italy)