These and many other mysteries await the readers of "Dark Rome" – an exciting history of the life and customs of the Roman world just as wild as it is full of facts. Readers will meet poisoners and magicians, ancient security specialists, and undercover agents who put their own lives and the lives of their contemporaries at risk on strictly confidential missions. Many of them were embroiled in state affairs, brutal power struggles, major scandals, political intrigues, and perfidious assassinations – and even Palatine Hill, imperial residence since the age of the puritanical Augustus, frequently became the scene of gruesome crimes. "Dark Rome" will provide readers with a glimpse into the abysses of Roman antiquity and will allow them to discover a side of the Romans that will seem both strange and strangely familiar!