Books : Roman Blood: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Novels of Ancient Rome)

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Author name: Steven Saylor

: Roman Blood: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Novels of Ancient Rome)
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780312383244
ISBN number: 031238324X
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: April 15, 2008
Publishing house: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 51394
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur



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Product Description:

In the unseasonable heat of a spring morning in 80 B.C., Gordianus the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate staking his reputation on a case involving the savage murder of  the wealthy, sybaritic Sextus Roscius. Charged with the murder is Sextus's son, greed being the apparent motive. The punishment, rooted deep in Roman tradition, is horrific beyond imagining.

The case becomes a political nightmare when Gordianus's investigation takes him through the city's raucous, pungent streets and deep into rural Umbria. Now, one man's fate may threaten the very leaders of Rome itself.





Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - A Masterful re-creation of Ancient Rome
This is a masterful achievement. Historical study teaches us that Roman sources are few; that what we have are at best transliterations centuries later; and that the majority of classical texts are lost and not likely to be found. And in spite of this, Steven Saylour is able to create a picture of Rome and Roman society that teems with life, that draws a complete picture that the sources individually do not, and in my limited expereince, seems to be historically accurate and true. Not to mention its one heck of a great story. This is historical fiction at its best.


Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Rome, 80 B.C.E.
Saylor, Steven. "Roman Blood", St. Martin's, 2000.

Rome, 80 B.C.E.

Amos Lassen

Some of you know Steven Saylour as the author of several books abut ancient Rome but I bet that you do not know that Saylour also writes some very hot gay erotica under the nom de plum of Aaron Travis and was editor of "Drummer" magazine. In his "Rome" novels there is always a gay subplot or an overtly gay character. "Roman Blood" continues that tradition. The "Rome" novels are based on the cases that Cicero argued in court.
Saylour authentically gives us the details of life in Republican Rome and writes about real historical figures. This novel centers on Sextus and the proscription lists (the names of those to be put to death). Anyone whose name appears on the list is liable to be killed and a reward is given to whoever does the deed. When Sextus ends up dead, there are questions about who did it and who is accountable for his death.
What makes this book interesting is that it deals the Roman on the street and we thereby get an intimate and realistic picture of Rome as opposed to reading about the generals, kings and upper class. There is a lot of history to be learned by reading Saylor. The book is not quite a mystery because we already know who did what. What it is then is a wonderful rendering of what happened and has a great deal of detail and description. Saylour gives us an intricate plot and am A-one novel. Under his pen, Rome comes alive. The "Rome" novels are the collection known as the Roma Sub Rosa series that both entertains and educates.



Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Exacting detail of Ancient Rome
Steven Saylor's Roman Blood is an excellent detective story, set in ancient Rome, and based upon actual historical events. Roman Blood is the story of the investigations of Gordianus who works as a sort of private investigator, a vocation known in ancient Rome as "finder". Gordianus is hired, by a beginning advocate and aspiring orator named Cicero, to gather information for a scheduled trial. The defendant in the case is Sextus Roscius who is accused of, what is to Romans one of the most unspeakable and unholy crimes, parricide. Sextus, who is facing a horribly painful sentence appears very depressed and believes that no one can help him.

Gordianus accepts the mission and lives through multiple challenges and threats in his effort to discover the truth. The investigation takes Gordianus to Ameria, a small town in rural Italy, where Sextus lived and where he had to confront the fearsome Magnus. He pursued his search in the House of Swans, a brothel, and the Baths of Pallacina, where he is accosted. Finally he has to fight the hulking Mallius Galaucia in the latrines of Rome.

This is a fine detective story and presents a realistic, vivid, and very detailed picture of everyday life in ancient Rome. One of my majors in college was history. In my studies I completed several courses in ancient history and focused on the Roman Republic in particular but none of my studies provided the detailed picture on Roman life contained in these pages. If you like history you will like this book.




Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Diverting Read Set in the Dying Days of the Roman Empire
Roman Blood is a fun little mystery set in the last days of the Roman Republic. The book is modeled on the actual killing of Sextus Roscius and Cicero's defense of his son for the crime. Saylour has taken many a liberty with the actual story, and embellished off what is unknown about the incident and by doing so he has created a fun and diverting mystery that does an excellent job of brining ancient Rome to life and of introducing Gordianus the Finder, the sleuth who will star in the rest of this series.

The book is better written then the average mystery and the historical figures who make appearances (including Cicero and his slave Tiro, both in staring roles) are well drawn and believable. I could have done without some of the forced humor, but the accurate portrayal of Rome, warts and all, make this a worthwhile read for anyone interested in a decent mystery or ancient Rome.



Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Pleasantly entertaning read, spoiled by tacked-on and utterly unconvincing ending
Beginning with a dull and esoteric exchange between slave Tiro and No-Praenomen-or-Nomen Gordianus, I had little desire to continue. But I did anyway.

The mystery, which I had gotten to read from Cicero's point of view in Colleen McCullough's book "Fortune's Favorites", unfolds with Gordianus in the underbelly of Rome, torn by civil war and proscriptions past, and a murder mystery which seems to have nothing going for it but witnesses unwilling to speak.

Gordianus is fluent, clear-thinking, and easy to follow as the story unfolds casually, without any over-indulgences and plenty of detail. Some of the characterizations are repeated ceaselessly, using "dyspeptic" to describe Cicero in six different chapters, or marveling at how chiseled and handsome and golden Chrysogonus is.

The story is interesting, and the mystery unfolds without much surprise as it's easy enough to figure out what happened and by who a few paragraphs or pages before its revealed, but it's an entertaining read which culminates in the neatly written opening arguments of the Sextus Roscius case of Erucius and Cicero.

After that, it falls apart as Sulla comes to Cicero's house and provides a very long, boring, and really disappointing twist which almost completely negates everything that had taken place previously. After that, another useless plot twist occurs with seemingly no purpose other than to spill more "Roman Blood" or add some quick "investigating" work just in case you think Gordianus didn't do a good enough job.

Up until the ending (which the author seems to admit in the Author's Note that he added on as a last minute thing) the story was a good one, and seeming the beginning of a nice series.

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