Alexandre Dumas, an ardent admirer of stories of the supernatural, published many of his own occult tales during his illustrious literary career. One of these was The Vampire, a gothic play first performed in 1851. Dumas penned The Vampire with Auguste Maquet, who had also collaborated with him on many of his most successful romances, including The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. The vampire in Dumas's play is named Lord Ruthven after the most famous vampire in literature during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1819, Dr. John William Polidori wrote the first vampire tale in English literature and named its title character Lord Ruthven. After the success of the story, Lord Ruthven's popularity spread throughout Europe and he became the subject of many plays and stories. Eventually, his notoriety diminished, and Count Dracula, another aristocratic vampire, took his place. Dumas's version of the Ruthven legend is an ethereal tale of fate, forbidden love and sacrifice. In Catilina, the perpetuation of the ancient Republic of Rome is in jeopardy. Roman people against a government dominated by a corrupt and wealthy aristocracy. He runs for the office of consul, challenging the great orator Cicero. Critical to both men's success is the support of a young Julius Caesar, who is uncertain as to which side he will join. The first English adaptations of these classic plays by Alexandre Dumas are bound to thrill readers of the twenty-first century, just as they did those of the nineteenth.