Conspirata turns Roman history into political page-turner

Mention to people that you’re reading a biographical novel about Cicero, the famed Roman orator and politician, and they might treat you like Sir Highbrow Von Ultramind. In fact, Robert Harris’ Conspirata reads like a guilty pleasure despite having the trappings of a  literary tome. Published Feb. 2, Conspirata turns out to be such a page-turner, it’s like you’ve got the dust jacket of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire concealing the kind of gripping thriller you’d buy at an airport.

Titled Lustrum when first published in Harris’ native England, Conspirata follows on the heels of Imperium, the first book in the author’s planned Cicero trilogy. Cicero’s personal secretary, confidant and lifelong slave Tiro narrates the books (and holds a more modest place in the history books as one of the inventors of shorthand). Imperium traced the rise of Cicero’s political fortunes, first through a legal case that challenges the Roman power structure, then through his election to consul (the one-term head of the Roman Senate). One half courtroom drama, one-half breathless political campaign, Imperium explored the corruption that undermined the egalitarian ideals of the Roman Republic.