In fourteenth-century Rome, torn by feuding barons such as the Colonna and the Orsini, the notary’s son Cola di Rienzo vows to avenge his murdered brother and restore the ancient republic. Swept to power as Tribune by the people, he dazzles Italy and Petrarch alike before the nobles, the Church and the fickle crowd turn against him.
The novel that inspired Wagner’s early opera Rienzi. Download the free EPUB.