Showing Vipsania: A Roman Odyssey by Jasper Burns

The Roman emperor Tiberius is one of the most enigmatic people in all of history. Based on numerous curious historical facts and fascinating bits of circumstantial evidence, this novel tells his story, how his personality was shaped by his experiences, and proposes a possible series of events that dovetails with known facts and make Tiberius seem more human and even romantic.

In 12 BC, the Roman Emperor Augustus ordered his stepson Tiberius to divorce his wife Vipsania - the love of his life. Tiberius obeyed - for duty, for love of country, for love of power.

Six years later, Tiberius defied Augustus, abandoned his powers, and followed Vipsania half way across the Roman world. He renounced love for power, and then he renounced power for the dream of love.

Was Tiberius an ancient Edward VIII, trading his throne for a woman? No, because his destiny would carry him forward, to unimagined highs and lows. He was an exile, despised and abused. And then, against all odds, he became the most powerful man in the world.

And what of Vipsania, remarried to an ambitious senator, the mother of ten children, one of them abandoned by her husband to the mercies of the gods. And through it all, still in love with Tiberius.

Most of this story is true. Where it exceeds the historical facts, it remains consistent with them, offering possible answers to the puzzles of Tiberius and his odyssey of power and love.