Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Vespasian was a friend of Suetonius Paulinus, who was accompanying him to the emperor's latest mandatory entertainment. Horace was once described as amusing yet serious, Vespasian said. The man was a literary genius. But tonight, we will be subjected to incessant drivel.

#2 The friendship between Suetonius Paulinus and Flavius Vespasian was unusual. Both men were in their fifties, and had made their reputations in Britannia, albeit at very different times in their careers.

#3 Paulinus was the governor of Britannia who was recalled to Rome to be consul. He was praised for his victory over the Iceni queen, Boudicca, but his punitive expeditions of vengeance after her death earned him the rebuke of his peers.

#4 Vespasian was exiled by Nero, who did not want to risk having him plot against him. He was not needed anymore, and was left to oversee the bees.