Raiders of the Nile

 Raiders of the Nile

© 2014 Steven Saylor

352 pages

  If fortune favors the foolish, young Gordianus of Rome must be foolish indeed. On his 22^nd birthday, he lavishly adorns his slave-turned-love-interest, Bethesda, only to see her kidnapped when she is mistaken for a rich man’s companion.  The kidnappers, a notorious gang of thieves, cutthroats, and miscellaneous scoundrels intending to hold her for ransom, operate out of “The Cuckoo’s Nest”, hidden somewhere amid the Nile Delta.  To rescue his love from abuse and execution, Gordianus must track down outlaws even the king of Egypt is quailed by Soon wanted for murder and navigating the backside of a country on the verge of civil war, Gordianus is forced into trusting strangers at his peril. Although the young main character will later be wise and street-savvy, here he’s giving his real name to barkeeps at mysterious tarverns and accepting drinks from smiling strangers.  Such things generally lead to death, enslavement, or other misfortune in novels, but Gordianus lives a charmed life.  The book opens with him taking part in a grave robbery (the sacking of Alexander the Great’s tomb) , in a splash of action that introduces a mood that remains throughout. While most of Saylor’s novels are political-legal mysteries, Raiders of the Lost Nile is thoroughly a light historical action-adventure novel with a twist at the end. It’s highly speculative, of course, but enjoyable.

The Seven Wonders

The Seven Wonders
© 2012 Steven Saylor
332 pages

A few years ago, I read through the Roma sub Rosa series in which a first-century Sherlock Holmes named Gordianus the Finder made his living investigating murders and other sundry mysteries which were in great supply during Rome's transition from republic to empire.  The Seven Wonders marks the return of the Finder, or rather his beginning as a freshly-togaed young man touring the world with his tutor, Antipater of Sidon -- a poet who fakes his own death, and not just to get out of town. Although Gordianus will encounter mysteries in every city he visits, the greatest intrigue is in his own camp. The stars of The Seven Wonders are the wonders themselves, as Saylor's story is a fictional travelogue of the ancient world. Today, of course, only one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" remains standing, the Great Pyramid. The others have been lost to natural disasters or human neglect. In Gordianus' day,  most of them dominate the landscape of their cities. The Colossus of Rhodes has already fallen from earthquakes, but even partially submerged it's magnificent -- and the Hanging Gardens, though largely a pile of rubble, are a very impressive pile of rubble protected by the staggeringly beautiful Ishtar Gate. Gordianus invariably arrives in each city just as something special is going on: the Olympics, for instance, or a fertility festival.   The Seven Wonders is a cultural tour of the classical world punctuated by death, theft, and skirt-chasing. (Gordianus was a responsible family man in virtually every other Roma sub Rosa series, but here he's young, knows no fear, and is randy as a goat in springtime. He even manages to be seduced by a goddess while sleeping in the Great Pyramid.)   I daresay the novel is more enjoyable for the setting than the actual mysteries, since most of the time the reader is kept clueless until Gordianus reveals what he's been noticing and mulling over without letting the reader know. Had the work been longer, the mysteries might have been more enticing -- but 300 pages is brief considering the scope of his travels.

The Seven Wonders is enjoyable enough, though nothing on the order of Roma or Empire.

Empire

Empire: the Novel of Imperial Rome
© 2010 Steven Saylor
589 pages

Last summer -- strangely enough about a year ago last week --  I had the pleasure of reading Roma: the Novel of Ancient Rome. The novel was a thousand-year epic, following one family through many generations in eleven stories. Saylor's rendering was impressive, so much so that I preordered its sequel as soon as I had the opportunity. I rarely preorder books: I have done so on only one prior occasion.

Empire is far less ambitious in scope than Roma, covering just over one hundred years. Saylor employs the same approach as in Roma, focusing on the same family (the Pindarii) and grounding the reader with an amulet that is passed from heir to heir. In Roma, the amulet transformed through its thousand-year history from a lump of metal purported to contain the essence of a god into a winged phallus (representing said god, Fascinus), into a decayed shape roughly similar to that of a cross -- appropriate, given that Roma ended in the first year "anno domini".

Although said designation was created during the medieval era, that year did start a new era in Roman history, for after the decline of the Republic and the establishment of an increasingly autocratic Empire, the only voice in Roman politics that mattered was the voice of the Emperor, who is hailed in the books as "Dominus". Empire  is a story told in four parts: two stories lengthy enough to count as novellas, bookended by two shorter stories.  The first begins in the last months of Augustus, while the novel ends with the appointment of Antonius Pius.* The intervening emperors -- especially Caligula, Nero,and Domitian -- drive the book. Their ambitions, whims,  and favor -- or disfavor -- force the Pindarii to think on their feet time and again. The Pindarii are patricians, once disgraced but restored to dignity when a family friend dons the purple and gold. They remain within strangling distance of the Emperors for most of the book, which is good for the reader but somewhat unhappy for them.

Although less ambitious, Empire does not disappoint: the drama here dwarfs that of his Roma sub Rosa series: on more than one occasion I bolted to my feet surprised by a plot twist. His Pindarii are far more sympathetic in Empire than in Roma, which may force the reader to be more anxious about how they might survive the Year of Four Emperors, the madness of Caligula, the Great Fire, the eruption of Vesuvius,  and the Emperors' increasing power. Historical persons appear throughout the novel beyond the emperors:  Seneca, Epictetus,  and Seutonious are three that caught my attention, but as in Roma Saylor introduced me to more that I had never heard of, like Apollonius of Tyana. The city itself is a background character, continually changing with the ambitions and tastes of the men who rule it. In some ways, Empire is even superior to Roma: Saylor's authorial voice is much less intrusive, as he allows his characters to handle exposition.

A recommendation, of course, to those interested. I'm still more impressed by Roma's scope, but Empire was a pleasure.

The heirs:

• Lucius: the Lightening Reader.  When the Emperor's nephew Claudius is summoned to performed an augury for Augustus, he brings his friend and fellow augur Lucius Pindarius to assist him. The result ensnares the Pindarii family in imperial attention,  linking their fates with imperial intrigue.
• Titus and Kaeso: the Twins:  Lucius' twin boys come to age in the beginnings of Nero's reign, and the two are torn apart by their opposing loyalties to Caesar and Christ: one of the two develops a fondness for Jewish mystics while in Alexandria and is lured into a strange new cult obsessed with the Apocalypse.  
• Lucius the Seeker:  Lucius, unlike his father and grandfather, has no interest in either augury or family. Living off of the family fortune, he prefers to spend his days shooting the breeze with Epictetus, a Sophist philosopher, a poet, and a member of the Imperial court. 
• Marcus the Sculptor:  Young Marcus is the favorite architect of Emperor Hadrian, who is obsessed with leaving vast monuments and building projects to posterity.

Related:

• Roma, Steven Saylor
• The Sons of Caesar, which follows the evolution of the Roman empire from Julius Caesar's ascent to the fall of Nero.
• Pompeii, Robert Harris.  (Novel.)

* Narrowly missing Marcus Aurelius, though I was delighted to see him at all: he appears as a youth, brought to court by Hadrian, who was intent on grooming him as heir.

The Triumph of Caesar

The Triumph of Caesar
© 2008 Steven Saylor
308 pages

The Triumph of Caesar is currently the last (Saylor may yet add to it, but I can't confirm this from his website) book in the Roma sub Rosa series. I would not be surprised if it were the last book in the series, given Gordianus' increasing age and political changes in Rome that make the court system that generates so much work for Gordianus a nonenity. If the series does end here, though, it does not end with strength.

At book's opening, Julius Caesar is busy consolidating his power in Rome -- endearing himself to the masses, rewarding allies, and enjoying the humiliation of the vanquished. Although all of his enemies have been killed on the field of battle, Caesar's wife is haunted by dreams of his assassination. She asks Gordianus to assist her in ferreting out anyone who may wish Caesar ill, but he refuses -- until he learns that a friend from Last Seen in Massila was first given the job, but murdered for his troubles. The death of a friend in the pursuit of the truth again sees Gordianus hit the streets of Rome, in hopes of discovering his friend's murderer and by extension someone who might desire to assassinate the new dictator-for-life. He does this as the dictator is celebrating his four Triumphs, military parades celebrating victories granted by the Senate. Gordianus's family is allowed prime seating at these Triumphs, thanks to Meto's many years of service to the dictator -- allowing Saylor to show off his research in fairly vivid scenes.

Although the readers are promised a historically involved plot and given plenty of detail, Triumph of Caesar seems weak to me. As the story developed, it became less interesting  -- the plot twists detract, not add, from the story to me. The book never grabbed me, which is surprising given how effective Saylor has been at providing a riveting story in times past. The book seems as tired as its increasingly white-bearded protagonist.  Give it a chance if you're a fan of the series, as everyone's tastes differ, but don't introduce yourself to the series with this one.

Caesar's Judgement

The Judgment of Caesar
© 2005 Steven Saylor
352 pages


When we last left Rome under the rose,  the civil war between Caesar and Pompey began to slowly conclude as Pompey's ranks dwindled and his history of victories was rendered meaningless by a long string of defeats to Caesar. Saylor moved his attention from the conflict back to Rome and its many mysteries, and we saw Gordianus attempt to solve the mystery of a young woman's murder. He was quite close to the deceased, and The Judgment of Caesar opens with his family traveling to Egypt to put her remains to rest in the Nile. This is not the only matter that brings Gordianus to Egypt, nor is it his primary concern: his wife Bethesda has been ill for some time now, and they have come to Egypt primarily in hopes of finding a cure for her in the Nile.

Gordianus' timing could have stood improvement: as his ship draws near Alexandria, it is captured by Pompey's forces. The last time Pompey and Gordianus stood on a ship together, Pompey attempted to strangle our protagonist with his own bare hands -- and his regard for Gordianus has not improved since. Caesar's arrival complicates matters, and Gordianus soon finds himself dumped unceremoniously in the ocean while the two great fleets manuever -- lost to his family and friends. Fate will bring them back together again, of course, and Gordianus will find himself in the thick of political manueverings between Julius Caesar, the boy-king Ptolemy, and his sister/wife/queen Cleopatra.

Caesar's Judgment, like Catalina's Riddle, is more political thriller than mystery. The book's mystery -- the attempted murder of Caesar and Cleopatra -- appears two hundred pages in and is resolved within twenty. Although Caesar is "judge" in the matter, taking Gordianus' investigations into account, his most important decision lies in which of the Egyptian monarchs he intends to support. As is common with Saylor, he supplements the book with historical notes, explaining how he worked the clay of historical facts into the crafted work that is this altogether riveting political historical fiction.

A Gladiator Dies Only Once

A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder

© 2005 Steven Saylor

269 pages

Although the meat of the Roma sub Rosa series is its novels, Steven Saylor also enjoys writing short stories set within it, as these allow him to explore elements of Rome that don't justify an entire novel. They also allow him creative leeway, demonstrated nicely in The House of the Vestals, his first story collection, where he told a ghost story and used Egypt as the setting several times. This is the second and as far as I know final short story collection in the sub Rosa universe, with stories set between the Sullian dictatorship of Roman Blood and Cicero's consulship in Catalina's Riddle. Most of the stories are set very early in Gordianus' career, before he and his wife were married and had established a family.

House of the Vestals established a patrician friend for Gordianus in the rotund shape of Lucius Claudius, and he appears in most of the nine stories here. The length of the stories varies: some, like "If Cyclopes Should Vanish in the Blink of an Eye" are short, while others are long. Through the course of them, Gordianus rubs shoulders with the best and worst of Rome, and does a little traveling (to Sicily, for instance) along the way. All of the stories were quite enjoyable, although a couple seemed a bit short -- "The White Fawn" is an example of that. It is set in Spain, where Pompey the Great is attempting to subdue the last remnants of Marian's forces, leftovers from the Roman Civil War who intend to make Spain the home of a new Roman republic. The "white fawn" is said to be a manifestation of the goddess Diana, who whispers advice into the rebel general's ear. The stories are not only enjoyable, but paint vivid and informative pictures of historical Rome. This may be one of my favorites of Saylor's works.

A Mist of Prophecies

A Mist of Prophecies

© 2003 Steven Saylor

304 pages

Gordianus the Finder and Rome have been through much turmoil in the past two preceding books, Rome having been plunged into civil war by the ambitions of those two men and Gordianus having been dragged behind history's wake by his family -- one son serving as Caesar's aid, and a son-in-law kidnapped into Pompey's service. A Mist of Prophecies provides a respite: after becoming more important and then directing the plots of the books, the historical background has become once more background. Gordianus the Finder has returned to Rome to rest, while Caesar and Pompey have their battles in Greece, Spain, and elsewhere. Rome is far from a peaceful sanctuary, however: although Caesar left a government to manage the city, it is now largely ruled by the creditors. Mob action against the creditors features into the book's plot.

The book opens with a young seeress called Cassandra collapsing into Gordianus' arms in the market as he and his wife shop for radishes to cure said wife's illness. Cassandra lives only long enough to tell Gordianus that "she did it, Gordianus...she poisoned me". The death of this purportedly half-mad seeress from parts unknown has a strange effect on Gordianus: despite being in debt himself, he arranges to have this stranger to Rome properly buried, complete with a funeral process. As her body is being burned in the necropolis, Gordianus happens to see the hill lined with Rome's matrons -- the leading ladies of Rome's patrician class are all in attendance, watching from their litters with guards in tow. Gordianus is at once puzzled: what is their connection to the deceased?

Cassandra's memory will haunt Gordianus until he is told to stop moping and solve the mystery of who killed her. Cleverly, Saylor uses Gordianus' recollections of his encounters with Cassandra while he moves through the city interviewing the matrons to catch the reader up on Rome's political happenings since Last Seen, as Mist is set about a year since then. Saylor thus avoids giving the reader an extended lecture, as the order in which Gordianus sees the matrons coincides with his recollections. We thus get two stories running with one another: one political, one a mystery. What is unusual about this book is that rather than Gordianus tell it in person, he seems to be recalling it from the future, referring to even events set in the present as "In those days...". Usually Gordianus narrates the story as he lives it, and the reader is given a sense of following in his footsteps. This is a tale to be told to us, although as the book progresses the feeling of the usual format becomes more pronounced. The plot wraps things up nicely, giving us an answer to why Gordianus felt impelled to give the young woman a funeral -- and giving us a look into continuing character development on his part.

Although Mist of Prophecies isn't the most riveting of the sub Rosa series, it's still a fine addition. Next week I may continue in the series proper or take a break to read through a collection of short stories set within the series as a whole, in the same vein as The House of the Vestals.

Last Seen in Massilia

Last Seen in Massilia

© 2000 Steven Saylor

277 pages

When I last visited Rome under the rose, I followed Gordianus as he experienced Rome at war. Pompey the Great fled Rome and then Italy when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, and Gordianus was present to see Pompey’s last stand on Italian soil -- having gone their to rescue his son in law Davus from his de facto indentured servitude in Pompey’s army. Although Gordianus and Davus have returned to Rome safely at the opening of Massillia -- a Rome now governed by Marc Anthony on Caesar’s behalf -- a letter informing Gordianus of his son Meto’s death brings him to the south of Gaul. The city of Massilia, now Marseilles, is close to breaking under a Roman siege. Through audacious guile and divine (or authorial) favor, Gordianus is able to sneak inside the city, where he is told that his son Meto was exposed as a spy and plunged to his death from the city’s sea-facing cliffs.

Gordianus is thus stranded in the city with miserable news plaguing his mind, but he is not the only man in Massillia to experience misery. The constant cry of babies attests to the beginnings of famine, and Gordianus himself witnessed a young woman plunge to her death in the same spot as Meto just hours after his arrival. A citizen of the city delivers Gordianus from his mental anguish when he asks him to ascertain the truth about his missing daughter, who he presumes was the cloaked woman whose death Gordianus witnessed.

As is usual in Roma, things are not as they seem: Gordianus and the others are in for many surprises, some dark and some relieving. Saylor's narrative is as strong as ever, and dominated by the historical context more than in novels prior. As I mentioned while reading Rubicon, the historical context is moving more and more of the books' plots in its wake. Saylor's focus is on the besieged city, but Gordianus' private mystery manages to keep its own in terms of vying for the reader's attention. The book has surprising character development in store for Gordianus, heightening my interest in how future events will shape him. The book is more poignant than most of Saylor's previous works: while I have often felt Gordianus' anger, indignation, satisfaction, pride, joy, and political weariness, Massilia forces the empathetic reader to experience sorrow and deep self-doubt. I am captivated by the drama of the Finder's life, but anxious as to what the consequences of the book's final pages will be for him. Eight books in, Saylor still manages to surprise me.

Readers interested in ancient military struggles will find Saylor's account of the city's siege to be particular interest.

Rubicon

Rubicon

© 1999 Steven Saylor

276 pages

"Alea iacta est."/"The die is cast." / "Let the game begin!" - Julius Caesar

"The most honest man in Rome! No wonder nobody likes you." (Pompey, to Gordianus.)

Murder on the Appian Way began with the people of Rome rioting in the streets. Although our Roma sub Rosa narrator Gordianus was able to leave the city on business, he was unable to escape the political maneuvering that resulted from the murder of populist Publius Clodius.Partially as a result of the increasing political instability, Rubicon begins with news of Julius Caesar's having broken the law of Rome and crossed the northern frontiers of Italy with his army. The Republic has reached point of crisis. Aging and allegeldy retired Gordianus the Finder would just as soon spend the rest of his life in his study, reading through plays and memoirs while entertaining his grandchildren, but it so happens that a visitor to his home is found death in his garden under the eyes of a newly repaired statue of Minerva. The visitor happens to be a young relative of Pompey the Great, one that the dictator is quite fond of. As Gordianus prepares to sort out the means of the young man's death, Pompey the Great himself arrives at Gordianus' door to inquire as to where his relative and courier has gone off to. When he finds out that his relative's destination is somewhere beyond the river Styx, he promptly seizes Gordianus' new son-in-law Davus out of spite and impresses him into military service. Davus will only be released from his newfound obligation when Gordianus has solved the mystery of who murdered young Pompeius and why.

The timing is rather unfortunate, as Julius Caesar is marching through the Italian peninsula with his army. His position in Rome being weak, the Great One is departing with those loyal to him to Italy's extreme south, where he hopes to rally supporters around him. Gordianus must solve the murder before Caesar and Pompey's armies meet: for no matter who wins, Gordianus will lose. His son Meto is Caesar's scribe, and with Davus in Pompey's army his family could meet great sorrow in the battle's aftermath. Such an investigation seems impossible, as everyone who might be of informational use has fled Rome -- either out of loyalty to Pompey or to hiding places in the countryside. Gordianus is given a chance to accomplish his mission when he spots Cicero's allegedly bedridden scribe and ex-slave Tiro strolling about Rome in disguise as an Alexandrian philosopher. Cicero and Gordianus may not share the same politics or values, but they both dread a Sullan-style dictatorship and are attempting to stay neutral -- although Cicero intends to keep on top of things by employing Tiro as a spy to both sides. Together Tiro and Gordianus set out for Brundisium, where they are expecting Pompey and Caesar to meet in battle.

In the last book I commented that the historical background of the novels was becoming increasingly important, and here my attention was attracted wholly to it, with little thought given to the murder that forces Gordianus into such a predicament. History is about to change, and the reader is able to see it happen through Gordianus' eyes. Rome is utterly deserted by its government, and the Appian way is occupied by marching troops. Before the book's end, Gordianus will have been invited into the tents of both Pompey and Caesar as they attempt to out-manuever the other. The book succeeds as historical fiction and fiction proper: after finishing the book and reflecting on it, I realized Saylor worked in more foreshadowing than usual in this work, perhaps as a consequence of telling the story differently. I often feel as though I'm literally following in Gordianus' footsteps, privy to his every thought and facial expression. To be sure, Gordianus always keeps some cards close to his vest, but in this book he seems to have lost an entire deck of cards in there. It's a fine addition to the series, and I eagerly await more.

It will be some time before I'm able to continue the series, though. I cannot find the three books three books preceding The Triumph of Caesar and following Rubicon in any of my libraries, and I will not read Triumph out of order for purposes of continuity, so I have purchased the books used through Amazon marketplace, and I cannot say how long it will take for Last Seen in Massilia to arrive.

A Murder on the Appian Way

A Murder on the Appian Way

© 1997 Steven Saylor

413 pages

"Oh, the times! Oh, the morals!" - Cicero

"Ah, judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason!" - Mark Antony, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. (Act 3, scene 2)

A Murder on the Appian Way starts out in chaos. Publius Clodius, the darling of the plebs, has been murdered on the highway south of Rome. Clodius has been deeply involved in Rome's political wranglings between the populares (populists) and Optimates (aristocrats). His own personal rival is Milo, a man who has been threatening to have Clodius done away with for some time. Clodius was loved by the mob for many reasons, chiefly his support of the grain dole, and when his stabbed and strangled body appears in Rome they want blood. The city is dark, but alive with hatred as people gather torches and march on the Senate, then on Milo's home.

The setting here at the beginning is well done: I really felt as though I was in Rome, hiding behind locked doors staring out into a dark city and hearing the voices of the mob. I could feel Gordianus' fear and anxiety about what the next hours would bring. They brought nothing good, as the Senate house burns. The Republic hasn't held elections in a year, and the rioting mob results in a period of anarchy where homes larger than huts are sacked and people are murdered. Gordianus' own home is similarly plundered when he and his son Eco are attempting to glean information at a political gathering, and the statue of Minerva in his garden is pushed off of its pedestal, breaking in half. It is very appropriate that the goddess of wisdom, justice, and civilization would be broken in two in a book such as this, where men "lose their reason".

Although Milo is commonly thought of as the man who killed Clodius, many people aren't quite certain -- among them, Clodius's widow and the general-politician Pompey the Great. Both approach Gordianus and ask him to find the truth of the matter, leading him to the countryside surrounding the Appian way where he will conduct interviews and try to find the truth of the matter. Gordianus' attachment to the truth, which Saylor's Cicero will thumb his nose at as being foolishness (he being of the opinion that "Truth" is whatever oratory that helps the Republic), serves him well in gathering the respect of many people in Rome, but also makes him dangerous to those who don't want the real story being told.

Saylor has delivered an incredible read here. History is no longer the setting but is now actively driving the plot -- think of a story set on the Titanic before and after the ship hits the iceberg and begins to sink. The fall of the Republic is similar to the sinking of the Titanic, and it may be here in this book that the Republic hits its iceberg. Historical fiction must be both good history and good fiction, and I'm reasonably sure A Murder on the Appian Way is both -- its setting is compelling, its characters believable, its drama gripping. Saylor combines historical fact with an examination of moral ambiguity, both in interpersonal affairs and in politics.

Roma

Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome

© 2007 Steven Saylor

555 pages

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When I first saw this book's full title, I was amused by what seemed to be presumption. The novel of ancient Rome? Really? Its plot summary -- a thousand years of Roman history as seen through the eyes of one family's many generations -- immediately caught my interest, though, and soon enough I was caught up in the epic story told here. Eleven story sections tell Rome's story from 1000 BC to 1 AD, beginning with the tale of a tribe of salt-traders who encamp on the Tiber's banks once a year during their annual treks up and down the Italian peninsula and ending with the beginnings of Empire. In that very first story, the progenitor of all our future antagonists acquires a lump of gold with a hole bore through it so that it might be worn as a necklace. The lump is said to possess the essence of Rome's first god, Fascinus -- the winged phallus. Worn on the neck, it is said to provide protection powers for women in childbirth and against the evil eye. The amulet is passed from generation to generation, giving the reader a "ground" of sorts.

As said, there are eleven stories here, and while the gaps between them are not overly large, sometimes history happens in between them and two stories may deal with radically different circumstances, so Saylor has to set the stage -- several times. Exposition is handled mostly by the narrator (who is not very intrusive), although sometimes characters step up. They don't always do it well, but given how much exposition Saylor does have to deliver, it's impressive to me that it only seemed weak a couple of times. Readers should note that since we are dealing with eleven stories set in eleven different periods, there is a wealth of characters to adjust to -- but it only took a page or two before getting the feel of them. Our eleven antagonists present a wide range of characters, although they don't always keep the same family names: a thousand years of history isn't kind to many families. Our family splits into two families in the beginning, for instance, and one of them eventually vanishes while the other experiences rising and falling tides of fortune. The antagonists are different from Saylor's sub Rosa character of Gordianus the Finder: some of them are downright despicable. Although the book's text consists of eleven stories, I wouldn't call this a book of short stories: they're too tightly connected to really exist on their own. All of them are well done, connecting to the reader early. Some chapters in the books' early middle set my blood boiling. Most of them deal with political matters, but there's at least one horror story here and at least one romance. It should be noted that the book is about Roma, the city, and not the empire that you and I may think of when hearing "Rome" -- that syllable that manages to convey so much meaning. The stories are set strictly in Rome, with the map not expanding beyond the Field of Mars and the seven hills.

There is a strong sense of history that is delivered in this book, on several levels. History as we know it happens to the amulet-bearers: at times they can only respond to it, and at other times they are active participants in it. If the amulet had eyes, it would have seen Rome turn from a crude village into a mighty empire: it sees an army approach the city intent on burning it, only to be stopped by the lamentations of the city's mothers; the Gauls, making a mess of the city while a few defenders watch from the heights of the Capitoline hill; and the persistent collisions between the patricians and plebeians, leading to the Gracchi, Sulla, and eventually Caesar. At the same time, history as you've not heard it also comes into being. In the beginning, Saylor gives many of Rome's early legends plausibility, and I had to stop reading many times just to look up the character on Wikipedia to marvel at what Saylor was doing. (The story of Cacus was especially memorable.) Saylor's invented history becomes part of the book's "real" history, and it gave me some nice moments. When a character in the middle of the book scales the steps leading to the Capitoline, I couldn't help but think of why those steps were built -- to make sure in the future no terror could hide itself in the now-long-forgotten caves. I knew, too, whose head had been unearthed to give the hill its name. The facts of the early stories become the legends of the latter stories: a example of this is Julius Caesar presiding over the Lupercalian Games with great solemnity (as he's refusing the crown offered by Mark Antony, yet!), games that began with the actions of three mischievous boys very early on. One of those mischievous boys was Romulus, Rome's first king. The grounding amulet is another example: it begins the book as a simple lump of gold, is later forged into a winged phallus, only to lose its shape as the years wear on and become a lump of gold again* -- its significance lost to memory.

This book has a lot to offer to historical fiction fans, but especially to those fascinated by Roman history. Not only does it deliver eleven stories of men and women riding history's wake, but it comments on human history in general: the significiance of legends, the various uses of religion (some noble, some not), and most prominently on politics and power. I definitely recommend it. This will probably go down as one of my favorites.

--

A video of Saylor discussing the novel can be found here.

* It's not a round lump, but a cross-looking lump given what it used to be. This leads into the Christian era appropriately.

Catalina's Riddle

Catalina's Riddle

1993 Steven Saylor

430 pages

Returning to Steven Saylor's Roma sub Rosa series was a treat last week, but I did not expect to be as riveted as I was this week while reading Catalina's Riddle. Our principle character is Gordianus the Finder, and the story is set in between The Arms of Nemesis and The Venus Throw: a friend of Gordianus' has died and left him his farm. Discouraged by the political corruption and vileness of Rome, Gordianus has eagerly left his modest home in the city to his son Eco and become a farmer. The change in pace has not left him wholly satisfied: life in the fields is hard work, especially when blight renders the wheat harvest worthless and your neighbors hate you and headless bodies keep showing up on your property.

Although Gordianus tried to leave Rome behind, he soon learns that Rome is inescapable. A rider from the city comes to Gordianus and asks him to give service to Cicero -- a small service, given that it was Cicero's rhetorical abilities that won Gordianus' farm for him after his neighbors -- family of his late benefactor -- sued for it. Gordianus is asked to give refuge to Catalina. That Catalina, a rabble-rousing patrician whose political ideas make the "Optimates" -- the leading aristocracy of Rome -- froth at the mouth -- would need a safe harbor is not surprising. That Cicero would ask for a favor on Catalina's behalf is puzzling, as Cicero has become the aristocracy's mouthpiece. Indeed, Cicero's tactics to discredit Catalina were the final straw for Gordianus in leading him to decide to leave the city.

Unlike the other sub Rosa books, Gordianus is not playing the part of detective. For most of the book, he tends to his farm while the great political battle between Cicero and Catalina takes place in the city. This book almost seems a political thriller: while previous books have connected Gordianus' various hired work to political events at the time, none of those events were as big as the "Cataline Conspiracy". Catalina is accused of planning an insurrection while everywhere ambitious men plot and fill other men's pockets with silver. While Gordianus is morbidly contemplating the decay of the Republic, he is also contemplating the decaying and beheaded bodies that keep appearing on his property. Who is attempting to intimidate him, and to what end? There is no stability in Rome -- no one is completely reliable.

Catalina's Riddle is nicely done: as usual, Saylor brings historical artifacts and people to life. Rome is a living city: its fear is palpable. That this became a thriller of sorts instead of a mystery was not expected, but very enjoyable. I'd say it's my favorite of the sub Rosa books thus far. Unfortunately, I won't be able to complete the series: I only have access to two of the books (Rubicon and Caesar's Triumph), and those two have several books separating them.

The Venus Throw

The Venus Throw

© 1995 Steven Saylor

308 pages

Back during the spring I began enjoying Steven Saylor's Roma sub Rosa series, depicting life during Rome as it passes from republic to empire through the adventures of Gordianus the Finder, ancient Rome's private eye. This book is set some 20+ years after the last story in The House of the Vestals, which I read last: young Eco, who was once a teenager, is now a man in his thirties following in his father's footsteps. Gordianus' family has expanded in the meantime: he has another adopted son in the Roman army, serving as secretary to Julius Caesar in Gaul, and a daughter by his slave-turned-wife, Bethesda. Gordianus has retired from his detective work, although he takes the odd case now and then to keep himself busy.

The book begins with an old Alexandrian philosophy showing up at Gordianus' door: he wants Gordianus' help staying alive. He is the only survivor of a delegation once a hundred strong that sailed from Egypt to Rome to lobby on Egypt's behalf, hoping to keep it free from growing Roman domination. After barely surviving a massacre upon landfall, he and his compatriots have been picked off one by one -- even after arriving in Roma itself. Gordianus is in no shape to help him: he has no influence in the Senate beyond being on friendly terms with Cicero, and the philosopher's enemies are powerful indeed. Before the night is over, he will be dead. A scandalous patrician woman (Clodia Pulcher Tertia) comes to Gordianus and insists that she knows who the murderer was -- and she wants him to find the evidence that will convince the courts. Pressured by her feminine wiles, her silver, and -- more notably in Gordianus' case, since he is the epitome of Roman virtue -- his guilt at having turned the old philosopher away, Gordianus agrees. Thus begins the plot of our novel.

There is a strong theme in this book, that of the power of Venus -- love, or more specifically eros: passionate love that drives mortals and gods alike mad. With the exception of Gordianus and his family, every major character in this book is pushed into the plot through eros. It is not an accident that the plot is set during a religious festival about the same subject. Venus, not philosophic virtue, dominates the minds of these Romans: one of the main characters keeps a massive statue of Venus in her backyard -- the same that graces the cover of the book, which made the elderly librarian volunteer give it a double-take when he checked it out.

Gordianus keeps different statues in his yard, notably a beautiful statue of Minevera -- the goddess of wisdom, justice, and in Gordianus' case, truth. He is neither a patrician nor a philosopher, but he keeps himself true to his own sense of virtue -- one that is properly pious for his time, but admirable to 21st century readers. For all of the silver Clodia offers him, he seeks the truth of what happened -- even if what happened isn't what he or anyone else would have suspected. As usual, Saylor has delivered a very enjoyable narrative that makes ancient Rome live once more, blending historical details with a fascinating story.

The House of the Vestals

The House of the Vestals: The Investigations of Gordianus the Finder
© 1997 Steven Saylor
260 pages

In previous weeks I have read two novels by Steven Saylor starring Gordianus the Finder, ancient Rome's very own private detective. This book is a break from Saylor's usual format in that it is a collection of short stories set between Roman Blood and Arms of Nemesis. The novel includes nine stories, although the font is set rather small so there is more to the book than its page numbers tell. The various mystery stories are not repetitive, although many of them make use of Gordianus's new friend, a patrician named Lucius Claudius. Old familar characters like Cicero make a reappearance. The stories themselves give the reader an idea about Roman theatre, the vestal virgins, Roman beekeeping, and even include a ghost story. The stories are not all about Goridanus: in the book we see his family grow and mature, and Eco and Gordianus' slave-only-in-name/wife Bethesda both feature prominently in helping him solve some of the mysteries. In one, "The Tale of the Treasure House", Bethesda relates an old Egyptian folk story (a mystery) to Gordianus to lull him to sleep. The book is quite enjoyable: not only is it well-written, but it draws heavily from historical documents and gives the reader an accidental briefing in late-Republic Roman history. Saylor ends the book with historical notes and a timeline.

Arms of Nemesis

Arms of Nemesis: A Mystery of Ancient Rome
© 1992 Steven Saylor
318 pages

Two weeks ago I read Roman Blood, a mystery novel set in late-Republican Rome. It was the first in the series Roma sub Rosa, and Arms of Nemesis is the second. Both are written in the first-person from the perspective of Gordianus the Finder, the era's version of a private detective. The book begins with a rude awakening: Gordianus is summoned by gladiators to enter the service of an as-yet-unknown benefactor at five times his usual rate. Gordianus, being curious and in need of the money, agrees. Soon he finds himself on a ship headed for the "Cup" of Italy: the arch of its "boot". Along the way, Gordianus muses himself about the ill treatment of slaves, which hints at the plot.

Once arriving in the Cup, Gordianus confirms what he already suspects: he has been hired by Marcus Crassus, the richest man in Rome. Crassus is a mysterious and potentially dangerous man to work for: he is known as the richest man in Rome and has a private army. He is also in the middle of a power struggle with Pompey the Great, which I've read about in Rubicon and Imperium. Crassus' brother, who managed one of Crassus' many villas, has suddenly turned up missing half of his head. Two slaves are also missing, and the presumption is that the two slaves murdered their master and then ran off to join Spartacus, who is at the present time terrorizing the patricians of the Republic with his army of slaves-turned-revolutionaries. The dead man's wife doesn't buy the idea that the slaves of the house did this, and so at her bidding Crassus has agreed to allow someone to investigate the matter. That someone is Gordianus, and he soon finds out that if he does not find out who is responsible for this in five days, the remaining slaves of the villa -- 99 in all -- will be butchered as an deterrent to other patricians' slaves and to prove the manliness of Crassus.

As Gordianus develops his investigation, he begins to suspect that Crassus has no real interest in questioning the supposed guilt of the slaves, and realizes that Crassus may want to make an example out of them just to prove to the Senate that he is quite the embodiment of Roman virtue and thus perfectly fit to be given command of the army being raised to fight Spartacus. The plot further thickens when Gordianus discovers bags of swords, shields, spears, and money hidden in the port of the villa: clearly, there is something else going on here other than revolt by two slaves.

The book was very enjoyable to read, and I must say that I like it over Roman Blood. I was not expecting the plot to end the way it did, but it ended well.

Roman Blood

Roman Blood: A Novel of Ancient Rome
© 1991 Steven Saylor
401 pages

They had an awful lot of sex in ancient Rome. Not quite as much as the Cro-Magnons in Jean M. Auel's Earth Children series, but a good part of this book is people trying to further people the Republic. The same friend who told me about Robert Harris' Imperium and Pompeii also told me about the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor, an apparent mystery series set in ancient Rome. That may seem like an unlikely setting, but it's working so far. Roman Blood is the first in said series, and begins with Tiro -- the loyal servant of Cicero who penned who told us the story of Imperium -- arriving at the door of Gordianus the finder, the ancient Republic's version of a private eye. Young Cicero -- who is just beginning his career as an advocate -- has been assigned a troublesome case, one involving patricide. Given Cicero's limited experience and the short time in which he is to build a case, the soon-to-be master orator hires Gordianus to help him find evidence that Sextus Rosicus -- the accused -- is innocent.

What begins to unfold is a gritty detective novel that could be just as easily set in 1930s New York as in the Roman Republic. Gordianus quickly receives threats to his life as what began as a simple murder investigation takes on hints of political corruption. Together, Tiro and Gordianus will travel throughout Rome, visiting urine-soaked plebian alleys as well as luxurious palatine estates -- with a brothel thrown in. As the story continues to unfold, though, it becomes more than just a detective novel, and the whole story does not become apparent until after the trial is over. I found Saylor's prose to be enjoyable, and his descriptions sometimes waxed on poetic, especially when describing the city of Rome. The story is told through the first-person, although Gordianus seems to be aware of the reader following behind him: some of his comments seem to be made for our sakes. Because Cicero and Tiro are main characters of this novel and of Imperium, the urge to compare the two is almost irresistible. It seems somehow unjust to compare one author's work to another as if one were authoritative, but I will say that Saylor's depiction shows a different side of Tiro than Harris. We first see it in a brothel. The rate at which we see characters engaging in sexual intercourse seems to increase in intensity as the trial approaches, and then vanishing soon afterwards. In my experience reading fiction, I've found that depictions of sex are really hit and miss. Sometimes they work well and fold into the story, but more often than not it seems as if the author is writing on sex gratuitously. That became the case for me in the middle of the book, and is essentially my only negative comment.

Because my knowledge of Roman life is still fairly limited at this point, I cannot comment with any authority on its historicity. I did notice -- and here I am comparing Saylor to Harris -- that Saylor's depiction of a trial was quite different from Harris'. In Harris', the trial wore on for days while the candidates gave arguments and rebutted their opponents. In Saylor's trial, the event takes place in one day and with only two arguments. This may be because the two proceedings took place in different courts. In the afterward, Saylor writes that the trial in the book was a real trial and that Cicero's arguments were used in the book with some alterations to make them fit into a narrative. He makes further comments on his sources and how he used them, which I appreciate. Reading historical fiction set in such a world apart from ours can make it difficult to discern what liberties the author has taken with the truth. I found the novel to be enjoyable overall and may continue in the series.