In 49 BC, 704 years since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar (then a Roman general and governor of Gaul) crossed a small river in the north of Italy called the Rubicon and knowingly plunged Rome into civil war. Placing the reader in the midst of the action, Holland tells the story of Caesar and his generation, which was to witness the twilight of the Republic and its bloody transformation into an empire. Here, legendary historical figures are brought thrillingly to life, from eloquent Cicero and wily Cleopatra to brave Spartacus, the slave who dared to stand against the mighty superpower.

Holland pictures Rome as a disciplined and ambitious predator, a state willing to commit acts of shocking barbarism to preserve its freedom. It is also a state ’as unsettlingly familiar as it is strange’ – its citizens enjoyed all-night dances, were intrigued by the cult of celebrity and had a fascination for unusual pets. Holland’s is a story of intrigue, triumph, cruelty and violence, an exciting retelling of a moment in history that still echoes with significance. As Holland describes it, ’so fateful was Caesar’s crossing the Rubicon that it has come to stand for every fateful step taken since’.

Combining verve and clarity with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a resonant portrait of a great civilisation in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, war and world-shaking ambition. This lavishly illustrated edition features 32 pages of colour plates, revealing the artefacts that help further our understanding of Rome. The binding is blocked with a striking image of Caesar, by Kent Barton.