Novel of the 1st Century Ad. Spanning the first five decades of Roman rule in Britain, it is a story of conflict and rebellion, trust and betrayal, told from the perspective of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, the pro-Roman client king of southern Britain. In the autumn of 79 AD, as he approaches the end of his life, Cogidubnus reflects on his friendship with the emperors, Claudius and Vespasian; on the Boudiccan Revolt, which he tried to prevent; and on his troubled relationships with a series of governors and imperial bureaucrats, many of whom were cruel and corrupt. It is the story of one man's attempts to reconcile two profoundly different cultures, which fascinate and repel each other in equal measure, a story whose resonances reverberate down to our own times.