Publisher's Synopsis
Living at the heart of sophisticated, brittle and brutal Roman society at the time of Pompey, Catullus is obsessed with Clodia, the Lesbia of his most precious poems. He is jealous of her husband, of her maid, even of her pet sparrow. And Clodia? Catullus is "her dear poet", but possibly not her only interest...Their Rome is a city of extremes - civilisation and violence are equals, murder is the easy option and poison is the weapon of choice. Catullus' relationship with Clodia is one of the most intense, passionate, tormented and candid in history. In love and in hate, their story exposes the beauty and terrors of Roman life in the late Republic.
