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This novel comes from the famous crimes of Alexandre Dumas (1839-1840), one of the first collections of Dumas. Model of the Prince of Machiavelli (one of the readings of Dumas), Caesar Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, extends his power over Rome. All means are good to ward off enemies and rivals. His crimes will have no limit, since he goes so far as to eliminate, by poison or weapons, the members of his own family: his elder brother Francesco, the husbands of his sister Lucretia and the mistresses who had the misfortune of to be attracted by his power and to share his bed. The poison he pours will eventually turn against him ...

Writing this bloody story, Dumas returns to the voluptuous and cruel Renaissance, the setting of his first theatrical triumph, Henry III and his court (1829).