A brilliant and beautifully written novel in the tradition of Robert Graves" I, Claudius, Augustus is a sweeping narrative that brings vividly to life a compelling cast of historical figures through their letters, dispatches, and memoirs. A mere eighteen years of age when his uncle, Julius Caesar, is murdered, Octavius Caesar prematurely inherits rule of the Roman Republic. Surrounded by men who are jockeying for power -- Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony -- young Octavius must work against the powerful Roman political machinations to claim his destiny as first Roman emperor. Sprung from meticulous research and the pen of a true poet, Augustus tells the story of one man"s dream to liberate a corrupt Rome from the fancy of the capriciously crooked and the wildly wealthy. Augustus won the 1973 National Book Award for fiction.