Infamy - J. P Toner

Rome is an empire with a bad reputation. From its brutal games to its depraved emperors, its violent mobs to its ruthless wars, its name resounds down the centuries like a scream in an alley. But was it as bad as all that? Join the historian Jerry Toner on a detective's hunt to discover the extent of Rome's crimes.From the sexual peccadillos of Tiberius and Nero to the chances of getting burgled if you left your apartment unguarded (pretty high, especially if the walls were thin enough to knock through) he leaves no stone unturned in his quest to bring the Eternal City to book.Meet a gallery of villains, high and low. Discover the problems that most exercised its long-suffering citizens. Explore the temptations of excess and find out what desperation can make a pleb do. What do we see when we look at Rome? A hideous vision of ancient corruption - or a reflection of our own troubled age?

Dr Jerry Toner is Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics, Churchill College, Cambridge University. He is the author of How to Manage Your Slaves and Release your Inner Roman, which were published by Profile under his pseudonym Marcus Sidonius Falx.

Engaging ... More than an entertaining collection of anecdotes, it is a subtle but
persistent reminder that infamy, horrendously entertaining though it is,
lurks beneath the carapace of every "civilised" society.
Times - Alexander Larman

Praise for How to Manage your Slaves:Entertaining and well-researched
the Times - Patrick Kidd

Thought-provoking and illuminating
FT - Orlando Bird

Toner's commentary ... is excellent ... This book is at its best when Toner analyses Roman attitudes to slavery, and how little they changed even when Christianity began to take hold in the ancient world ... packed with fascinating references to the earliest writings about slavery
Independent - Natalie Haynes

Marcus dispenses advice with aplomb ... he is a fascinating creation
TLS - Nick Romeo