Dramatis personae -- Timeline -- Preface -- Part One: War (The sad and infernal gods ; Four emperors ; A world at war) -- Part Two: Peace (Sleeping giants ; The universal spider ; The best of emperors ; I build this garden for us) -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

"Beginning in 69AD, the so-called Year of the Four Emperors and spanning to 138AD, the death of Hadrian, Pax presents a narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to the barbarous realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland offers a tour of the most famous episodes in Roman history"--