In the year 60 B.C., a three-headed monster looms over Rome and brings the city under its control. And so begins the story of a secret alliance between three men who have decided that nothing may happen in the state unless they have approved it first. It is the story of the first triumvirate and its creators – Crassus, the richest man in Rome, Pompey the military potentate and Caesar the political genius. And it is the story of the downfall of the Roman Republic. In this exciting book, Markus Schauer makes the link between the social unrest in society and the deep-rooted tensions within the aristocracy during the second half of the 2nd century, and the bloody civil wars of the 1st century B.C. During this time, powerful individuals had unprecedented opportunities to do whatever they wanted, and they exploited them ruthlessly using all the powers at their disposal. This book gives a dramatic account of their motivations, how they came together, how they eliminated their enemies and how they plundered Rome. But inevitably there would come a point where the new masters could no longer stand each other: in the end, there could only be one.

• The downfall of the Roman Republic

• Serious historiography in an exciting presentation

• Markus Schauer’s ‘Der Gallische Krieg’ was shortlisted for the Bavarian Book Prize