by Steven Saylor
There are two authors I admire in Historical Roman fiction: Robert Harris and Simon Scarrow. Harris’s Cicero trilogy is untouchable in its ability to indoctrinate the reader in the Republic of that period, equally Scarrow’s “Eagles of Rome” series gives authenticity to the Roman army in the field ex...
Series: Roma Sub Rosa #1 I decided to finish this after all, but it wasn’t a very exciting read. I know I complained about that incident at the 35% mark, but that just made me want to take a break. Although it started out fun, the story itself just wasn’t very compelling. The solution to the myste...
Synopsis: Gordianus the Finder, a private investigator, is called in by Cicero for aid in his first major case, the defense of Sextus Roscius, accused of parricide. Review: Again, I'm drawn to Marcus Tullius Cicero, but this time to a Cicero who hasn't started his political career yet. We see a yo...
Gordianus, who is also called the Finder is called upon by Cicero, the famed Roman orator and lawyer to take up the historical case of the parricide of Sextus Roscius. Gordianus accepts the case and starts looking for the truth, immediately seeing that the seemingly simple case is not simple at all....
This is set in the Ancient Roman Republic in 80BC, the time of rule by the dictator Sulla when Ceasar was young. The narrator and protagonist, Gordianus "the finder" is a kind of private investigator who is hired by a young Cicero to help his client accused of patricide. I couldn't help but smile ...
Giordanus is a finder working for Cicero, who is now a young advocate and orator. He is investigating the murder of the father of Sextus Roscius, for which the son is accused. It's an interesting story with a lot o the politics of Rome and some of the interesting events and legal situations. I en...
Not since McCullough's First Man in Rome have I read a story based completely on real events and enjoyed it so much. Like McCullough, Saylor focuses on the Late Republican phase of Roman History, which is probably the best documented periods; or at least the best document pre-empire period. There a...
Good quality (well researched) historical fiction and mystery. If this is how Roman citizens (and slaves) acted, why do we idolize them?
Pretty faithful to the history and the bits that Saylor had imagined with Sulla were great. Took a while to get into it, and the central character not really substantial enough set against the likes of Cicero and Sulla, but decent read.