Rome as you have never seen it before – incomparably unconventional, misbehaving, and so feminine.

‘Extremely entertaining and enlightening’ — Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den

This is the story of the Roman Empire as it is usually told…

We start with Romulus killing his brother, move on to Brutus overthrowing Tarquin, go through a dreadful list of battles and generals, and eventually end up in the political slaughterhouse of the late Republic. After 'Et tu, Brute?', we run through all the emperors, occasionally highlighting a wife or mother to show how bad things get when women don’t obey, until Constantine invented Christianity only for Attila to come and destroy everything.

Let’s tear up this script. The history of Rome and its empire is much more than those 'Important Things'.

In this alternative history, Emma Southon tells another story about the Romans, one that lives through the Priestesses, sex workers, entrepreneurs, and poets, the Empresses and Saints.

Discover how the entrepreneur sex worker, Ispala Faquinia, uncovered a conspiracy of treachery, human sacrifices, and orgies so wild they would make Donna Tartt blush, becoming one of Rome’s unlikely heroines. Book a table at the home of Julia Felix and meet the smartest businesswoman and restaurateur in Pompeii. Enjoy a variety of local delicacies while admiring the glorious view of Mount Vesuvius… what could go wrong? Join the unparalleled Septimia Zenobia, who – after watching a series of incompetent and psychopathic emperors nearly destroy the Empire – did what any of us would do. She publicly declared herself Empress, seized half of the Roman Empire, and ruled it herself.

Pages: 416, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm