In A.D. 81, Domitian seizes power upon the death of his older brother Titus and begins his reign as the Emperor of Rome. Afflicted by classic paranoia, the self-styled Master and God sees enemies everywhere―and he is right. The Senate loathes him, his advisers are terrified, his wife can't be trusted and barbarians menace the frontiers. As he vents his suspicions, no one is safe...

Gaius Vinius Clodianus is a reluctant Praetorian Guard―the Emperor's personal bodyguards―who has survived physical and mental scars to rise to a high rank. Lucilla tends the privileged women at court; when Domitian's once talented rule unravels into madness and cruelty, she loses her patron. In the haven of their shared apartment, Gaius and Lucilla find solace together, yearning for normality while living in a reign of terror.

Moves against Domitian are begun by his own household. Lucilla has to watch Gaius choose between love for her and the risk of death; between his sworn duty to protect the Emperor and conspiring to kill him for the good of Rome.

In short: I hated it & quit reading it after about 70 pages.

It was like walking through hip-deep mud thinking that round the next turn in the road you will find dry ground to walk on. But after a while you say f**k it & call for someone with a rope to pull you out.