The Barnes & Noble ReviewOver the years, Lindsey Davis has shown her mastery of the history of ancient Rome with her sharp, witty, and clever mysteries featuring the P.I. (Public Informant, that is) Marcus Didius Falco. The series won the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award in 1999 and prompted the London Times to award Davis the title they'd initially coined for the late Ellis Peters: "Queen of the Historical Whodunit." Now, in a historical novel that explores another facet of Rome's turbulent history, this gifted author turns her attention to a subtler sort of mystery -- how the empire that created the great despots Caligula and Nero also nurtured the good and just ruler Vespasian, who set the stage for Rome's Golden Age. According to Davis, what tipped the scales is the role played by the slave-scribe Caenis, who, against her better judgement, loved Vespasian from the time he was only a penniless younger son who had almost no hope of a political career. Against a backdrop of betrayal, intrigue, and murder by dagger, poison, assassination, and just about anything else imaginable, a complex, captivating world comes to life…and history is changed by the will of one woman, a slave who truly came to rule the Roman Empire in everything but name. Sue Stone