Tyrant by Conn Iggulden

Ancient Rome, 50 AD. The ruthless Agrippina secures her son Lucius's fate through marriage to Emperor Claudius, bending her powerful husband to her will. TYRANT tells the story of Nero, from boy to man, as he struggles to break free from his mother's unscrupulous and single-minded determination that her son should rule. An ageing emperor, a wild and untameable fatherless son, and a mother determined to see him rise to power. This is a story of ambition, power, and the historical struggle for control of the Roman Empire. You will love Tyrant if you enjoyed Iggulden's earlier works, such as the Emperor series.