Napoleon had a tradition of appropriating from past military greats to legitimize his regime—Alexander the Great during his invasion of Egypt, Charlemagne during his coronation as emperor, even Frederick the Great when he occupied Berlin, but it was ancient Rome and the Caesars that held sway over his imagination and his conception of himself. Finding a revelatory angle on one of the most written-about men of all time, Susan Jaques discusses Napoleon's effort to turn Paris into "the new Rome"— Europe's cultural capital—through architectural and artistic commissions around the city. Napoleon's victories were many, yet Jaques also delves into his conflict with an enemy that he could never vanquish—the Pope himself.