Vespasianus

In a collapsing empire built on wine, lies, corruption and absurd ambition, the old legionary Vespasianus claws his way from starving nobody to emperor of Rome.

Together with the fiercely devoted Domitilla, a woman whose love survives every catastrophe imaginable, he creates a city, a dynasty, and eventually a disaster large enough to shake an empire. Around them grows a world of drunken senators, grotesque weddings, violent arena spectacles, scheming officials, starving citizens, wandering legionaries and impossible family loyalties.

But beneath the absurdity lies something darker.

A lonely man terrified of poverty.

A woman who loves too deeply.

A daughter raised between tenderness and madness.

And a faithful dog who may have been the only true friend Vespasianus ever had.

Darkly comic, brutal, ridiculous and strangely heartfelt, Vespasianus is a satirical historical novel about power, survival, love, corruption and the tragic stupidity of mankind.

© 2026 Kenneth Westlin (Hljóðbók): 9780466460556

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Hljóðbók: 1 augusti 2026