Marcus is a young baker in Ancient Rome, living with his family in the shadow of the murderous Emperor Littleboots. When a slave boy shoves the reins of a sleek, beautiful horse into Marcus's hands seconds before he is killed by a soldier, Marcus knows he's in danger - because the horse is Incitatus, the Emperor's most prized and powerful animal.
Will Marcus find a way to keep Incitatus hidden? Are the rumours of Littleboots's death true - or is it all a trick? And how can Marcus save himself, and his family?
A fast-paced adventure from the winner of both the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the 2005 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Industry Reviews
"Told in beautiful clear prose, this short novel does not try to emulate the historical fiction published in the Antelope and Gazelle series of 1960s-1980s by such authors as Rosemary Sutcliff, but gives the reader a glimpse of a past era in a different, humorous way"
