Caesar Dies

About This Book

First serialized in Adventure magazine in 1926 as The Falling Star and published in book form in 1934, Caesar Dies is a historical novel by Talbot Mundy (1879–1940) set during the reign of the Roman Emperor Commodus in the late second century AD. The narrative unfolds in the treacherous corridors of Roman power — from the opulence of Antioch to the imperial court itself — as conspirators, senators, and courtesans maneuver around an emperor whose brutality and megalomania are pushing the empire toward crisis.

Mundy was praised for his unusual historical accuracy: nearly all the principal characters are real figures who participated in the events as he portrays them. As with Tros of Samothrace, Mundy brought an outsider's skeptical view of imperial power to his depiction of Rome. The novel is heavy with dialogue and political intrigue, reading more like a dramatized history than conventional adventure fiction. Caesar Dies is in the public domain and freely available through Project Gutenberg.

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