A bold retelling of the legend of Tarpeia, a priestess destined to be swept up in the danger of Rome’s earliest days, and whose name would give rise to Rome’s most dreaded site—the Tarpeian Rock. It is 753 BCE and the new city of Rome exists on the edge of a knife. The young King Romulus reels from the loss of his mother’s counsel, turning to his father—Mars, the god of war—and his city’s new chief Vestal, Tarpeia, to fill the void. The city is constantly at war. As bad, it is a city of men, set to die out within a generation. Thus, the knife slips, setting into motion an infamous crime that will entangle Tarpeia and resound throughout Latium and beyond, pitting Rome against its enemies and allies alike, and showing the settlement by the Tiber, and its young king, what it will ultimately take to rule the world.

Publication Year: 2022