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Twenty-five years ago I slogged my way through Cicero’s letters in the original Latin. Two impressions endured. The first was that of a mediocre man  more pleased with himself than was decent. The second was of an ability with words that could dazzle and mesmerise.

In 2006 Cicero emerges as the hero of a compelling historical thriller set against the background of the potential overthrow of Roman democracy. Robert Harris has achieved the impossible: through the fictional diaries of his secretary, Tiro, Cicero becomes likeable and amusing.

Yet Harris’s Cicero also emerges as a brilliant chancer who positions himself as a serious contender for consul against the opposition of Rome’s leading families. You want Cicero to win and to outwit the aristocrats who hate someone they see as nouveau.

Harris has attempted before to take snapshots of history and entwine them into intricate but unambiguously modern storylines. Here, the social observer is matched by the master storyteller, with a plot based on real events chronicled in Cicero’s own letters. The result is his best novel by far.