In the Age of Gold — Eric Lerner

History effortlessly convinces us, but Fiction has to work so much harder to accomplish the suspension of disbelief: cajoling, arguing, pleading, losing all dignity and shamelessly seducing. If all else fails, Fiction will even break into a soft-shoe shuffle or a Dance of the Seven Veils. Try, if you must, to withstand the wiles of Livia Augusta, the Emperor's Wife.