"...unfolds with masterly skill the tale of the conflict and intrigue of this critical time of transition from the Julio-Claudians to the Flavian Emperors....The excellent and compelling narrative is enriched by a wealth of background...." -- Times Educational Supplement on the previous edition

After the death of the infamous Nero in AD 68, the Romans might have hoped that AD 69 would usher in a new era of peace and stability. It was not to be! Before January was out, the new emperor, Galba, had been brutally assassinated, and the next two successors to the imperial throne, Otho and Vitellius, were to meet equally violent ends. This period of turmoil also saw two desperate battles at Cremona, the capture of ROme for Vespasian - fourth and final emperor of the year - and a civil war in Italy which shook the farthest reaches of the Empire.

Kenneth Wellesley's gripping acount combines an elegant and exciting narrative with sound, meticulous scholarship based on his intimate knowledge of the Historiesof Tacitus. Now with a new Introduction by Barbara Levick, the book will once more be welcomed as the standard work on this turbulent period in Rome's imperial past.