I was in a very clever sketch once that was a take off of the American series Dynasty about the affairs, business and personal and many of them nasty, of an oil rich family.  Tom Holland uses the same title for a book about the line of rulers of Rome founded by Julius Caesar's adopted son Octavius, all of whom earned a reputation for extreme nastiness and more than a touch of depravity far in excess of the peccadillos of the Americans.

He seeks to separate fact from rumour and to uncover what may be the kernel of truth at the bottom of some of the stories that have come down to us.  He sees these often as resulting from power struggles of one sort or another.

For instance the famous story of how Caligula wanted to make his horse a consul is generally seen to be a sign that he was not all there.  Holland argues that it was an elaborate joke at the expense of the senators illustrating just how much more power Caligula had than they did.

I'm sure the book is worth reading but at £25 a copy I shall wait till the library has a copy.