Gates of Rome

Conn Iggulden is a well-known British writer specializing in historical novels. He has written book series about Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, the Greek wars, and the War of the Scarlet Rose. In his novel “The Gates of Rome,” he tells about the rise of a powerful state on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula. At the center of the plot is Rome—the city where glory and decline, beauty and bloody battles have intertwined. Two boys who grew up in this backdrop dream of glory in the ranks of a mighty army. One of them is the senator’s son with privileges and ambition; the other is a child born out of wedlock, relying only on his own strength and will.