DynastyBy: Tom Holland 'A masterly account of this first wicked century of the Roman Empire' Sunday Times 'Holland does not just tell the story of the reign of the Julio Claudian family. He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions with a skill so dextrous you don't notice the stitching. Dynasty is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world