Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero these are the men who mastered ancient Rome and changed it from a democracy to a personal possession. Their lives, their struggles for and grandiose displays of power have provided some of the most dramatic moments in ancient history. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, his adopted heir Octavian rose to power and reinvented himself as the Emperor Augustus. The Julio-Claudian house ruled for almost a century, but their time was filled with tragedy, conspiracy and murder.

Set against a background of foreign wars and domestic intrigue, the story of Rome's greatest dynasty is also the story of the birth of an imperial system, the impact of which has shaped Europe's history all the way up to the present day.